


Like a bolt of lightning

by ShadeDuelist



Series: Modern TF2 universe ('Bolt of Lightning'/'Sinner's Fire') [1]
Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-08-11
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2017-11-07 07:44:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/428597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadeDuelist/pseuds/ShadeDuelist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a stormy life, love can be the stroke of lightning.  Sam Tennant was hurt in more ways than one, and a job as BLU's pyro could prove to be the much-needed relief.  But what else will it bring?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meet the pyro

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own the concept for the classes, I don't own the classes, I don't own anything about the game. But the characters are all mine. Especially Gabriel Dantan.

Chapter 1: Meet the pyro

“...Hmm, it vas a good day, vas it not, Herr Doe?”, the medic said to the soldier as the BLU team headed to their amusement room in the apartments the company supplied them with. The soldier shrugged before replying.  
“I guess, yeah. Not too many losses... and now that our team's finally gettin' a pyrotechnician, we might fare better tomorrow!”  
“No kiddin', Jane, ya think we're gonna do better just 'cause we finally gettin' ourselves a pyro, too?!”, the scout said, grinning as he dashed from the fridge to the table where he'd left his laptop for playing online Army of Death 4 Ultimate, three cans of Bonk! Atomic energizer firmly in his hands. The medic walked over and picked up one of the cans of Bonk, hitting the scout on the head.  
“You should learn a bit of respect for your zuperiors, Archie... he is Herr Doe to you, not Jane. And I told you before, do not drink zat many energy beverages or your heart vill fail one day...”  
“Can't help it, doc, I'm addicted – yeah, yeah, 'Herr Doktor Steinheim'...”  
“I honestly do not know how ve are goink to teach you respect...”  
“Leave him be, Siegfried, he learn respect when he grow up someday, da?”, the heavy weapons expert said, walking in from the kitchen with one of his eternal Sandviches. He then looked at the engineer that entered, picked up the keys to their company van and headed for the door again. “Dell, where you going this late?”  
“Imma just gonna pick up the new guy, Yar, okay? Be back in an hour, he's at the station right now, called just a couple'a minutes ago...”  
“Haff fun...”, the medic said absent-mindedly, while the scout rolled his eyes and turned to his game again, the first can of Bonk already emtpy.

“...That must be him...”, the engineer said as he noticed a lone figure stand at the train station. When he got out and approached the man, the first thing he noticed was the mask he wore – not a gas mask, but a mask of bandages that left only the eyes and mouth uncovered, and both looked raw and slightly bloody. 'How-lee cow, this guy sure ain't no one you wanna meet in a dark alley...', the engineer mused before speaking up. “Hey? You Sam Tennant?”  
“Mmhm...”, came the grunt, followed by the man approaching him. There were three suitcases, the engineer noticed, one longer than the others.  
“Mind carrying the long one? The others look like they're the heaviest, but I can't carry three atta time...”  
“No prob...”, Sam said, and Dell immediately noticed how hoarse the man's voice sounded. “That's my new weapon, anyway, wouldn't want to give it away...” 'Hm, guy's got an English accent, that's new...', the engineer mused, putting the suitcases in the van before loading up the pyrotechnician and moving out. The conversation was a very tense one, laden with silences and awkward looks.  
“So you're gonna be our new pyrotechnician?”  
“Mmhm.”  
“Mind if we call you pyro for short?”  
“No.”  
“Had a pleasant trip?”  
“Mmhm.” And it went on that way for the entire drive to the apartments, where the Administrator-General was already waiting for them.  
“Ah, Sam Tennant? Follow me, please... Mr. Conagher, please tell your teammates to expect an extra briefing regarding your new team member before your morning runs.”, she said before whisking off the pyro, who followed meekly, and for the first time the engineer noticed how the man had a slightly limping gait, as if both his legs were stiff. '....But we only had about twenty minutes' worth of driving...' Shaking his head, the engineer went to the amusement room, intending to watch a bit of television before turning in for the night. As usual, the scout was still there playing his game – five cans of Bonk now stood empty beside him, and the sixth was downed in a single gulp before the scout got up, yawning.  
“Arch, how can ya still yawn when you're hyped up on caffeine?”, the engineer asked, and the scout shrugged.  
“I dunno – only got two things to keep me awake, Dell: crazy doses a' Bonk and the thrill of shooting the REDs to shreds... He he, maybe there's three things...”, the scout then said as a commercial on a new brand of champagne aired, complete with half-naked woman in a giant champagne glass. “Holy fuck, that's one hot numbah... Anyway, 'night, Dell, man...”, the scout said, walking to the door before turning around again. “Say, Dell, tha new guy's sharin' with me, ain't he?”  
“Think he does, yeah... We only have five rooms here, son, so we don't have the luxury of choice. 'S the only place still left... what with doctor Steinheim and Yaroslav bunkin' together nowadays... Theo an' Arsine sharin' too... An' then there's Tavish and Jane bunkin' together, an' my own room's practically a storage shed with a bed built in... Anyway, guy's name is Sam Tennant, and way he grunted at me on the way over here, he'll be fast asleep by the time yeh git up there...”  
“I hope so, 'cause I prob'ly just feel awkward anyway... Y'know, not bein' formally introduced and stuff like that...”  
“Since when did we do that ninny crap anyway, son?!”, the engineer said with a grin before waving the scout off.

Meanwhile, the pyro had undressed for the night, the heavy bandages impeding movement considerably.  
'So this is what I'll be doing for a living... meh, better get used to it, heh...' Sam opened the suitcases that contained the pyro gear and grinned. 'Now this is more like it! I got one grade triple-A fireproof suit in the BLU colour, one Triple Safety mask with oxygen tank like the doc suggested, my new Scorch-a-lot Flamethrower... ah, tomorrow'll be a blast!'

“Goooooood morning!” The booming voice startled Sam so much he had his fireaxe drawn and resting against the neck of a very scared-looking man that had stood by his bedside dressed in briefs and nothing else in the blink of an eye.  
“Don't shit with me that early in the morning!”, Sam said before taking another look at his victim. The boy looked as though he'd just wet himself, staring at the blood- and pus-stained gauze covering the pyro's face with horror, and then at the rest of his body which was either covered with similar bandages or with a slightly stained baby blue nightgown patterned in big flowers. “What are you staring at?”, Sam followed up, lowering his fireaxe, feeling slightly uncomfortable under the other's gaze.  
“M-ma-man, what'd you get hit by?” His voice had a slippery tone, and the pyro chuckled hoarsely.  
“Thirty gallons of hot flaming gasoline. Oh, and skin grafts. Lots and lots of skin grafts.”  
“Holy shit on a stick, ya haveta be kidding me!”, the boy said, before checking himself – obviously he believed he had wet himself as well – and then he laughed heartily. “'Least it's less fucked up than what happened to tha rest of us... By the way, how ya doin'! Name's Archie Jessup, I'm tha scout for this band -a-misfits... Ya'll meet them in about half an hour.”  
“Sam Tennant, pleasure to meet you – and sorry for the axe, I tend to go Shining when loud voices interrupt my sleep...”  
“...Shinin'?”, the scout said, and Sam rolled his eyes.  
“You know, 'the Shining'? 'Heeeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!', ring any bells?”  
“Oh yeah, that movie! Jeez, and here I thought that RED pyro was axe crazy...”  
“I'd love to meet the guy face to face...”, Sam said, and Archie replied with a sigh.  
“Ya would... two axe crazy psycho sons of bitches brought together...” Archie then watched his new room mate take off the nightgown – and noticed the bag taped to his leg, with a thin plastic tube running all the way up to... “Ohohow man, ya got a catheter in ya bladder, dude?!”  
“Because doing it the regular way hurts like all hell...”, Sam replied, and the scout blanched.  
“...Man, why aint you shakin' your fist at heaven? God dealt you the wrong hand-a-cards...”  
“Fortune deals, Archie, and you play. It was my own fault for getting doused in burning petrol...” The Pyro then heaved a sigh. “Could you go eat breakfast now? Those bandages won't change themselves...”

As the door softly clicked shut behind him, the scout shook his head. 'Man, our new pyro's scary as shit... but seems like a nice guy... Heh, can't wait to see what the rest'll think of tha dude...'

Meanwhile, Sam peeled off the bandages slowly, changing them as doctor Harvey had showed in the hospital. In his head, he recited the verses of his favourite poem as he wrapped his chest tightly. 'Like fire it spread and like flames it grew, undaunted by fear and guided by will, until the shaking earth calmer grew, and all lay burning, and all lay still. The heart that had guided the blaze's path was young and sweet and melancholy, but in her eyes now lay that wrath, and she ignited in her fury. Like a candle she burnt bright, like a candle in the night, and by that glow of fire's light, she sighed his name and died... Aw hell, Michael, why'd you have to run and die?' She looked around the room, desperate to not think about it... 'Gods, will I ever be able to forgive you?' His eyes fell on the multitude of posters littering the walls: baseball teams, energy drink commercial posters and pinups – some oldfashioned, some relatively modern and scantily-clad, and some just bare naked. Obviously the scout, Archie, was a typical teenager – causing Sam to grin. 'At least these guys will prove a diversion...' Checking one final time for loose ends and early bloodstains, Sam nodded. 'This is okay...'

When the door opened and Sam entered, clothed in a loose T-shirt and track pants, covered almost exclusively in bandages, the team looked up and stared until Sam spoke up.  
“Hiya, gentlemen...”  
“Oh! New pyrotechnician is tiny and thin, like little girl!”, spoke a bulky man with a heavy Russian accent, and Sam was unsure if he had meant it as a compliment before the man followed it with a round of rowdy laughter. “Ha ha ha ha! You and Archie both tiny and thin like little girl, which is maybe good thing. I am Yaroslav Charistov, but you can call me Yaro.”  
“A pleasure, Yaroslav... Yaro...”, Sam said with a smile before sizing up the sniper who stood silent in a corner. “And you must be mister Mundy!”  
“How'ya doin', mate?”, the Australian said with a grin. “Jus' call me Ted or Theo, rest of the misfits do tha' already...” He then motioned around the room. “The others're doctor Siegfried Steinheim, who insists on being addressed as 'Doctor Steinheim'; our drill sarge, lieutenant Jane Doe; Dell Conagher, our engineer; and Tavish Degroot, our demolition man and your countryman.”  
“Mun-deh, I'm Sco’’ish, no' English, and yeh'd dew bes' to remember the fac'!”, the tall dark man voiced, his voice slurring slightly, and Sam looked at the bottle the man held in his hand.  
“That proud of your national treasure, hm? ...Don't worry, Scottish and English are worlds apart, and I know it.”, Sam said as he extended his hand, which the demo man took hesitantly before grinning.  
“Ah, yeh're no' bad, laddeh... but jus' beware, we can' protect yew out there all the time... don' risk anythin' yeh don' wanta lose yet and yeh'll fare okay...” He then punched into thin air, it seemed, but a second later the spy uncloaked and Sam gasped. “Arsène, yeh know the administrator dinnae like yehr performance las' year... yeh shoul' really be present when a new member's introduced... Uh...”  
“Sam Tennant... expert in fire, flares, fireworks and explosives.”, the pyro supplied, and Arsène extended a hand, pulling his ski-mask off with the other hand to reveal a handsome face with scars running over his cheeks.  
“Eet eez my pleasure, of course...”, the Frenchman said with a heavy accent, and Sam smiled.  
“So, how long do I still have?”  
“Eat in peace... battle start in hour.”, Yaroslav said amiably as he sat down beside the medic, engaging with the man in a conversation partially in German and partially in Russian, allowing Sam to nudge Archie in the ribs.  
“Yo man, how ya doin'?”, the scout said softly, sounding worried, but Sam smiled.  
“After a day or two, the pain dulls and the sight becomes less gruesome. The pus means my skin grafts are growing, so I really am happy with the dirty bandages... But the pain is still intense. I'm on a diet of painkillers, immunosuppressants, steroids, probiotics, antibiotics, and general panacea. I think I'm supposed to be sleeping in a test tube right now, but doctor Harvey gave me permission to come here and start the job early. Doc Harvey's coming here for my weekly exam in five days, and in three weeks I'll be gone for a month due to reconstructive surgery and revalidation, and then... you lot'll have a pyro for life!”  
“Jus' the way we like it, laddeh!”, the demo-man chimed, passing a sandvich over to Sam before turning back to the soldier. Sam shook his head and ate the sandvich, meanwhile pondering how the battle would go.


	2. Burnt

Chapter 2: Burnt

An hour later, when the horn sounded for the first match of the day, Sam strode out decked in his new gear. The bandages were completely vanished in the fireproof suit, and the gas mask covered all of his head.  
“Mmrsmm! Hmms hmm thm dmm mmmt!”  
“Yeah, Sam, let's kick some RED butt!”, the scout answered, obviously having deciphered what the pyro had shouted, and the scout and pyro headed off to the edge of the area. Ahead of them, Yaroslav was mowing down their opposants with his minigun, aided by doctor Steinheim, and by the sparkle that was starting to issue from the medic's medigun, Sam could tell the heavy weapons expert would take point very soon. However, movement behind the medic caught Sam's attention and he turned back to Archie.  
“Hmm thm dmm Tmmvmms, Hm thmm Hm shmm hm spmh!”, he shouted, and Archie nodded, taking a sharp right while Sam doubled back.  
“Zam, ve are okay!”, the medic shouted as he noticed the pyro approach, but Sam's flamethrower had already sparked to life and a blazing path of flame issued from its nozzle, passing harmlessly over the medic somehow but igniting the cloaked figure behind him, causing the RED spy to appear while swatting out the flames on his two-piece suit. Sam took out his fireaxe and planted it straight in the spy's chest, blood spattering him as the man he'd assaulted fell. However, immediately the body vanished, and Sam remembered how the Administrator-General had told him to expect the inexplicable. Shaking his head, he put his fireaxe away again and took up his flamethrower, running back towards the area Archie had run off to, finding the scout and the demoman perched in a hideaway where the engineer had joined them with a sentry and dispenser.  
“You doin' alright in there, son?”, Dell asked, and Sam gave him a thumbs-up before noticing a glint of light fall onto the wall – the telltale laserscope dot of a sniper. “Yeah, he might know we're hidin' in here, but he sure as hell can't do nuthin' 'bout it...”, the engineer muttered, and Sam suddenly chuckled.  
“Kmmh yhm thmm whmmm hmm hmms?”, he asked, and Archie responded.  
“Up there, by the stairway... ain't moved an inch since ya got here, dude...”  
“Yhm kmmh mmhthmm hmm, Mmrsmm... kmmh yhm thmmstmmh hmm?”  
“I can... but man, if I get shot in the head again, I'll hit ya on the head, ya hear?!”, the scout said, picking up his steel baseball bat from against the wall before winking at the pyro. “Here goes!” Archie then dashed down the street, effectively distracting the sniper, allowing Sam to reach the staircase and creep up it to end up behind the sniper's back. Taking out his fireaxe, he took a deep breath in preparation before swinging down full force, burying the blade in the Australian's back until it protruded from his chest. Wedging it loose to allow the body to disappear, Sam put it back before checking his flamethrower and seeing that the reservoir was almost empty. 'Better dash back to the dispenser, I think I smelled gasoline on it...', the pyro thought as he ran down again.

The rest of the day went by with the same routine. BLU captured all the capture points, after which they had to make sure a payload they found at the final checkpoint made it to the perimeter of the RED base, after which they could enter to swipe precious intelligence on the other team which they carried over to their own base for deciphering. All in all it was a productive day for the team – and for Sam as well, as the pyro had found out much about their missions while they were waiting for the next fight to start. Soon, dinnertime had come, and Sam found out he had another duty.  
“Yeh're the fire expert, so use yer knowledge and cook fer us, laddeh!”, Tavish said as he motioned for the kitchen, resulting in a slap on the head by Siegfried.  
“Herr Degroot, our new friend did not yet know zis was his duty, zo pleaze give him a bit of time to azjust to zhe idea... Herr Tanner-”  
“I'm no 'herr', doctor Steinheim – call me Sam like you did out there.”, the pyro said as he put on a long-sleeved dark blue shirt, kitchen gloves and a light blue apron with a single giant daisy on the front, causing Yaroslav and Jane to double over in laughter while Dell grinned, eyebrow raised. The medic looked taken aback for a moment before nodding.  
“Zam... vould you pleaze cook dinner for us?”  
“I'll see what you've got and then I'll cook up a storm.”, the pyro admitted before opening the fridge. “Hmm hmm... Awlrighty then!” He took out three chickens, several batches of pre-cooked carrots, a mound of peeled potatoes – he guessed Jane and Yaroslav had peeled them, since they were slightly cubical in shape – and several pots, pans, jars of spices and a bit of butter before setting to work. As he cooked dinner, the doctor turned to Archie.  
“Zay, Archie... vould you happen to know more about our nevest team member? Normally I am zhe first to know all about zem, since I have to do zhe medical examinations, but zis time zhe Administrator-General told me zat it vould not be necessary...” Archie shrugged in reply before speaking up.  
“I dunno, doc, he told me he has his own doctor comin' to base for his check-up... But I do know the reason for those bandages... thirty gallons of burnin' gasoline and a heap-a skin grafts. Dude has a fuckin' catheter runnin' up into his bladder, too.”  
“Zat must be a terrible nuisance...”, the medic answered, now looking at the pyro in mild curiosity – reminding Archie unpleasantly about the man's slightly awkward behaviour as a doctor. The scout reacted by steering the conversation away from the new member's medical condition.  
“...and dude loves his fireaxe – nearly decapitated me this mornin' – and would like to meet RED's pyro to exchange axe murder stories and cuddle in the light of an inferno...”  
“Archie, I swear to god, if you're talking about my purse I'll clobber you to death with it!”, drifted Sam's voice over the din of the kitchen – Dell had gone in to help the pyro, and the engineer had clearly promised to mind the cooking pots and pans while Sam could listen in on their gossip. However, when the scout looked up, he saw the pyro grin.  
“Naw, Sam, I wouldn't shit withcha, ya axe crazy dickhead. I mean RED pyro's gay, he bangs RED's scout. I'll betcha dey wouldn't mind a threesome though...”, he added with a ludicrous grin, and Sam shook his head.  
“Somehow I doubt they'd do that. ...Oh, hell, Dell, I said pour out the water, not pour out the potatoes!” The pyro disappeared back into the kitchen, leaving the scout and the medic to look at each other.  
“...I think zat our pyro might not be zat much different from RED's pyro. He vos looking at you very intensely, Archie...”  
“Tell me, medic...”, came Sam's voice, and doctor Steinheim turned around to find the pyro having picked up his flamethrower from against the wall. The insane grin and the flicker of the pilot light coming to life drained all colour of the medic's face as Sam continued: “...how could I possibly think of things like that with half my underside covered in blisters, sores and regrowing skin? ...Now – EVERYONE CLEAR THE TABLE!!”, the pyro bellowed after Dell set down the three chickens on their metal dinner table. The pyro chuckled before pushing in the handle of the flamethrower, and a bright spurt of fire came from it, engulfing the chickens for a second before dying away, leaving the chickens sizzling, the table radiating heat and the medic in a dead faint on the floor. “Chicken flambé with mashed potatoes and carrots!”, Sam announced as Yaroslav helped the medic up again, putting away the flamethrower before taking a seat across from the doctor and next to Archie.  
“Dude, that was vicious!”, the scout said, looking a bit pale as well although he eyed the chicken with hunger and mild disgust – it smelled like gasoline slightly – and Sam nodded, looking slightly bashful.  
“Yeah...”  
“Are ya kiddin' me?! That was the height of awesome! Hey, Steinheim, betcha thought Sam was comin' ta fry ya ass!”  
“Manners, Arch!”, shouted Jane from across the table, and the medic didn't deign to reply as he ate a chicken leg with gusto, keeping his eyes pointedly away from the pyro, who chuckled along with Archie as the two of them laded their plates with food.

“...You comin' to watch my game?”, Archie suggested as Sam stretched, going to the fridge from the couch. “Oh, bring me that sixpack-a-Bonk, will ya?”  
“Mmkay...”, Sam said lazily, taking another soda for himself and said sixpack for his new friend, dropping it of and briefly taking a seat next to the scout. “Oh, Army of Death 4 Ultimate, hm?”  
“The extra violent edition...”, Archie said with pride, opening a can of energizer and downing it in one, causing the medic to groan. “It has extra ludicrous gibs and flames-a-war...”  
“Hm, I know it, my-” Suddenly, the pyro stopped, a pained expression on his face, causing Archie to look at his friend in confusion.  
“Hey, what'sa mattah, Sam?”, the scout asked, and Sam groaned before answering.  
“Uh... it's nothing... excuse me for a minute...” The pyro slowly headed outside, and Archie turned back to his game, shooting at corpses merrily until, five minutes later, everyone in the entertainment room was rudely shaken by a pained shout.  
“KYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHHH!”  
“How-lee shit, what the hell wuzzat?!”, the engineer said, sitting upright as he was immediately awake, looking around in confusion. “Arch, was that another of those in-game things ya love so much, son?”  
“N-no... jeez, what was that?” He walked into the hallway, running to the end where Yaroslav stood, looking off to the end of the other hallway.  
“It came from there, little Archie... maybe Sam in trouble?”, the Russian said, sounding worried, and Archie sprinted off, skidding into the third corridor before realising how stupid it was to do so. 'There's nothin' in there 'cept for a door to the Administrator area...' He walked back slowly until he heard a door click shut, and looked back to see the pyro walk away from the one door the hallway contained, his gait betraying pain and discomfort.  
“Sam, dude... you okay?!”, he asked, and Sam winced.  
“N-not really... my catheter slipped. I had to insert a new one...”  
“Dude, you crazy?! Why don't ya let doc Steinheim do that for ya?!”, the scout asked, and Sam shook his head.  
“There's a reason doctor Steinheim didn't examine me, just as there's a reason why he can't do something like that for me. ...No, I can't tell you what that reason is yet. One day, Archie... one day...” Archie looked at Sam, a mixture of surprise, anger and annoyance on his face, but when the pyro sighed, walking on bandy-legged, the scout sighed as well, walking next to his friend.  
“...Is there anythin' he can do for ya?”  
“Not really at this point. The catheter's back in place, and as soon as I take my evening cocktail of meds, the pain'll be a distant memory.” The pyro then pushed open the door to their room, sagging onto his bed with a groan. “Just tell the others that I'm okay... and don't worry, Arch, I'm fine...”  
“If you say so, dude...”, the scout said, shaking his head as he walked back outside, closing the door softly behind him before turning to the hallway he and the pyro had come from – remembering the door the pyro had come out of. '....What's goin' on? Why didn't Sam jus' go to the medical bay, or the john, to change the catheter? ...What's behind that door?' The scout walked up to the door, seeing it was smooth, made of metal and without a door handle on the outside. 'Odd... how'd Sam get in there in the first place?' He sighed, shaking his head before walking back to the entertainment room to explain to the others that it had been the pyro that had screeched and that the guy was okay now. Yet at the back of his mind there was a feeling akin to worry, and not even the remaining four cans of Bonk and three hours of gaming got rid of it...

“Mmhmmm...”, Sam groaned as he opened his eyes, finding that the sun was rising. In the other bed, Archie was still snoring like there was no tomorrow, giving the pyro the time to check himself in the mirror. 'Everything looks okay... still some pus stains on my nightgown, but that'll pass – yesterday I was practically soaked, but today everything looks okay... man, that Grow-a-gen works fast as hell... Maybe I can take a shower again in a week or two...' He then checked the catheter bag and groaned when it was filled with thick red urine. 'If the next bag's still got blood in it, I need to call doc Harvey – no way I can have the medic here-'  
“Uh, dude, there's blood in ya piss-bag...”, came the scout's drowsy voice, and Sam turned to find his new friend step out of bed, shaking his head in disgust.  
“That's normal, Archie, I shoved a tube into my urethra up until my bladder – things are not meant to go up there. It'll clear.” Sam then methodically changed the bag, closing off the other and tossing it into a small yellow hazmat box he then clicked close and sealed.  
“Still, that's just plain disturbin', Sam... you sure you don't want doc Steinheim to have a look?”  
“Positive. Besides, I could always call doc Harvey over for an emergency intervention.”  
“Ya know, doc Steinheim said yesterday he didn't do ya medical check-ups... how come?”, the scout asked, and Sam sighed.  
“I already had my own doctor, and seeing as my situation's a bit complicated at the moment, doctor Harvey told the Administrator-General that he would oversee my case personally for the first two months, until after I return when the cosmetic surgery's over. ...Could you, uh...”, the pyro then asked, sounding shy again, and the scout shrugged.  
“Meet ya in the breakfast room...”  
“Save a pancake for a hungry pyro...”, Sam said with a grin, and Archie rolled his eyes before closing the door behind him. However, as he walked to the breakfast room, he ran into Arsène, who had left his skimask off for a change, showing his slightly salt-and-pepper hair and boyish face.  
“Good mornink, Archie! 'ow ees zee pyro doink dis mornink?”  
“Pissin' blood, he stuck a fuckin' tube up into his bladder yesterday...”, the scout replied, and the spy raised an eyebrow.  
“Did 'e, really? ...But Yaro was tellink a very eenterestink story just now... He told 'ow zee pyro came from zee hallway with zee dead end...”  
“Yeah, he did, and dude refused to tell me why.”, Archie replied, causing Arsène to draw the scout closer, looping an arm around the slender young man's shoulders.  
“Say, Archie... would you like me to find out what 'ides behind dat door? I can tell you are eentreegued by eet as well...” Archie nodded eagerly before explaining.  
“Sure, brotha! I mean, jus' 'cause I'm worried 'bout Sam... ya know...”  
“Oh, really? And 'ere I thought you only cared for me...”, Arsène said teasingly, causing the scout to grin.  
“What's wrong with lookin' out for a brotha?”  
“You are blushink, Archie. Eet becomes you... and eet betrays that you 'ave 'ad... thoughts... about zee pyro...”  
“Yeah, well, Sam looks kinda hot with all dem bandages and shit... now get going, ya shithead.”  
“Love you, too, my leetle scout...”, the spy said before blowing a kiss, which Sam happened to see as he rounded the corner.  
“You and the spy, huh?”, he said, mild interest tinging his voice, and Archie chuckled.  
“Arsène'd love ta hear ya think that... Only on occasion, though.”, the scout said, lowering his voice slightly.  
“So all the pin-ups...”, Sam said, but Archie shook his head, laughing softly before rolling his eyes.  
“I swing both ways, dude. I mean, not that I love Arsène or anythin'... he ain't the first guy ta-”  
“Do not finish that sentence...”, Sam said, though the look of mild interest did not go away. “I have to admit he is kinda hot...”, the pyro then said, and the scout's eyes widened.  
“N-no way, you seriously think he's hot?!”  
“Mmhmm...”, Sam said, rolling his eyes as Archie grinned. “Certainly hot... you think so, too, don't you?”  
“You kiddin' me?! He's a fuckin' god... Oh, almost there for breakfast. Remember, brotha, mum's tha word... 'kay? Some guys, like doc Steinheim and Jane, don't have your kind-a understanding...”  
“Your secret's safe with me... Hey, Archie?”, Sam then said, causing the scout to turn back to his friend, hand already on the doorknob.  
“Yeah?”  
“...I'll tell you why the medic can't do my exams one day... j-just not today, okay?” Archie remembered the promise of his friend the previous evening, as well as Arsène's promise, and nodded.  
“'Kay... I understand...”, he said before opening the door for the both of them.


	3. Arson and Assault

That day, the fights were just as intense as the day before, their missions varying slightly – racing the other team trying to deliver a payload to the other team's 'base', gathering intel of RED while protecting their own intelligence center...

“Mmrsmm, gmmt tmm Dmmh mn mmsk hmm phmm mh dmmsphmmsmmh hmmh...”, Sam murmured through his mask, and the scout dashed off, away from the control point the two of them were defending.  In the background, the pyro faintly heard the droning rattle of Yaroslav's minigun and the clatter of bullets striking the steel walls of the one of the other control points.  It wasn't until he heard another roaring that he noticed he wasn't alone – the RED pyro was storming straight at him, looking similar to him.

“Mmmtmh mmh vhmm!”, the man roared through his own gas mask as a spurt of flame came from his flamethrower – Sam cursed, knowing his fireproof suit wouldn't protect him from continuous exposure, and he switched to his shotgun, pumping three shells into the enemy pyro before he blacked out.  “Smmmrmh, dmmmd...”, the other pyro murmured – Sam felt dizzy, his mind going blank until he opened his eyes with a start to find himself back in the medical bay of their makeshift 'base'.

“Velkome back to zhe living, Zam!”, the medic said, chuckling as the pyro checked his suit and weapons for damage before pulling the mask off.

“Doctor Steinheim, did you-”

“I checked your burns, and zey are alright – vhen you are brought here from zhe battlefield, you are restored to full health, your equipment good as new and your veapons refilled...Don't bother going back out zere, though, zhe horn will zound in another sirty seconds...”  The medic then raised an eyebrow.  “Vos it zhe pyro zat got you?  Zere were scorchmarks on zhe back of your suit...”

“...It was... but the guy said sorry.  Heh, guess he's just another working man like you and me, huh, doctor?”, Sam said with a shy grin, and the medic clapped the pyro on the back, smiling amiably.

“Zam, ve are all just vorking men... RED and BLU alike.  Zis weekend, you'll see ve even go to zhe city togezher!”

“Aw...  My doctor's coming for my checkup this weekend... don't think I can have that much fun with you...”, the pyro said, and the medic sat down when the horn sounded from outside, declaring a break from fighting for both teams.

“Surely your doctor vill not examine you all day... join us in zhe evening!  Beer, good food, a bit of music...”  The medic then looked at Sam, who nodded.

“Guess I could ask, yeah...  The Grow-a-gen he prescribed does what it's supposed to do anyway, so maybe I can shower next week...  But only God knows how long he'll want to do my psych review-”

“You haveta do a psych review?”, the scout said, walking up to the pyro and looking him in the eye.  “What'd you do ta get stuck with a shrink?!”

“I don't want to tell that... please...”, Sam said, but his new friend shook his head.

“Look, dude, I'm not sayin' ya're crazy, I just wanna know why ya have a psych pickin' ya brain...”

“Okay... but don't tell this to anyone or I'll chop you up into tiny pieces! ...You know how I got the bandages, right?”, Sam said, motioning for Archie to join him – when the medic didn't move, Sam rolled his eyes before continuing.  “My parents owned a gas station.  I lived in my own apartment already, but I went over there in weekends to help them out.  They always went dancing on Saturdays, they were in this social group.  One Saturday they left as usual, and they asked me to take over from my younger brother Michael at about ten o'clock.  I heard a huge explosion five minutes after they'd called me from across the city – I knew that something'd gone wrong...  So I drove over there like a lunatic, only to hear people say Michael was still inside the burning building.  I ran in, got doused in burning petrol, but I didn't find him...”  The pyro laughed then, a mirthless laugh that sounded painful to Archie, and sighed.  “It was only the house that went up in flames, not the pumps, the convenience store or the attached maintenance garage.  The fire department found evidence that the fire was lit.  My brother was dead, I was heavily burned and inside of the building... My profession made me the first and last suspect.  I was charged with arson and involuntary manslaughter.  By my own parents.  There was no proof that I was the one that lit the fire, particularly because several bystanders testified that I'd arrived after the blast and that I'd run in without a second thought to save my brother.  But my parents... they knew Michael had to have been...  I mean, my brother was suicidal, and they turned a blind eye to it for years.  My parents just couldn't cope with the fact that my brother had killed himself like that – they didn't want to believe how sick of it all he was – and they blamed me.  They wanted to have me committed, and when my solicitor told them there would be no legal grounds to, they disowned me, filed a lawsuit for damages against me which they lost, and they changed their last names, moving out of the country.”

“Outta tha country?!  Dude, that's so harsh it ain't even remotely understandable...”, Archie said before pulling his friend against him in a brief hug.  “Sam, brotha, ya got ya a whole new fam'ly right here!  Don'tcha worry about what happened before... and just give that shrink a piece-a-yo-mind if he tells ya you're a psycho case, awright?  ...Outta tha country... sick disturbed fucks, their own kid...”, the scout muttered as the horn sounded and the three picked up their weapons from their places again, ready to engage in another round of battles.

 

By the third day, Sam had already picked up the routine of the battles that took up the majority of the day – and of cooking for nine hungry mercenaries in the evening.  At nine, he found himself sitting in the sofa, leaning slightly against Dell who had fallen asleep again while watching television.  Softly, the pyro dislodged himself without waking up the napping engineer, walking over to the fridge and taking out a can of Archie's stash of Bonk, drinking a sip and wincing.

“Gods, this is the most sugary shitty drink I ever had the displeasure of tasting!  ...Hm, here goes...”, he said, closing his eyes and downing the can in a single gulp, shivering in disgust before throwing the empty can away.  “...Say, where is Archie, anyway?”

“He got a phonecall on his mobile... bugger if I know where that little wankah went...”, Ted said, looking up from his 'Hunting Monthly' magazine, and Sam nodded.

“Ah, well...  Guess I'll already go to sleep.  Mind telling him to keep it down when he comes to the room?”  The sniper shrugged noncommittally, and Sam rolled his eyes before heading outside, walking the hallway until he ended up at his door, which he was surprised to see slightly ajar, light coming from inside along with an annoyed voice.

“Yeah, but Mom, ya know I-  Yeah, well, he's a...  Mom, stop ranting!  Put-  Just put Steve on the phone, will ya?!  No, I just told ya, I can't!  ...Shit, Steve, who gave her a dose-a-sugar?  I know.  I know, dickhead!  I knew what I signed up for, an' so did Mom.  I thought she was glad ta see me outta juvie?”  The accent and the aggro language told Sam it was, of course, Archie talking on the phone to his mother and brother, but Sam was startled to hear him speak casually about how he'd been in jail.  “...Steve, ya know I can't.  Now ya just shittin' with me, right?  ...Aw jeez, not that crap again!  I told you, I ain't seein' someone right now.  There's no chicks here to nail, and the guys are just gross.  'Cept for the spy, but he's grade A asshole.  I'm grossin' you out?  Ha, funny, 'cause I remembah you doin' that to me when ya were still datin' Sylvia!  ...Yeah yeah, you, a broom handle and a lack-a K-Y.  Anyone else over at the ol' crib?  ...No, don't put Mom back on, she-  Aw hell...  Yeah, heya Mom.  I know.  Well, yeah...  I told him not to tell you that, Mom!  No, I'm not gonna bring him over for my next vacation!  Yeah, yeah, love ya too, bye...”  Silence ensued before Archie heaved a sigh, which Sam interpreted as his cue to drop in.

“Phone call from the home front?”, he asked, and Archie looked up, groaned and nodded.

“My mom.  One-a my brothas made me an uncle for the seventeenth time or some shit like that.  I told her a million times before, if I can't be there for the first one, I sure as hell can't make it for the seventeenth one.”

“Seventeen?  Holy hell, that's one busy brother you've got!”, Sam said, causing the scout to laugh, his earlier irritation vanishing into thin air.

“Hah, Sam, that's a good one!  Nah, I got six brothas... I'm the runt-a-da family...  Oldest of 'em's like, thirty, and then they're evenly spaced about a year until the sixth, my brotha Steve – we're four years apart.  I was whatcha'd call 'tha accident kid'.”

“Big house, big family.”, Sam said with a smile.  “Has to have been hard for you.”

“Yeah... mom coddles me like I'm a baby, an' my dad's abandoned the fort, like, fifteen years ago.  My mom's been doin' whatevah since then.  She's seein' Pierre nowadays – tha RED spy.”  He shrugged.  “I pretend I don't like it, but he's actually an okay guy for my mom.  He ain't abusive, he makes sure he does right by her, an' he's kind to me and the rest-a-da pack.”  The scout then sighed, turning to look out the window over the moonlit battling grounds.  “Pierre's da one that got me outta juvie.  Gave me a job here.  He's alright.”

“What did you do to go to juvenile detention?”, Sam asked, and the scout shrugged.

“...Promise ya won't tell?  Ain't exactly my proudest moment...  ...So I was part'a dis baseball team, an' we weren't the best, but we were okay.  I'm a mean sluggah...”

“You don't say.”, Sam said drily, eyeing the scout's steel bat, causing his friend to grin as he continued.

“...an' we had this pitchah that could drive a ball so hard it smashed a wooden bat!  The others were kinda mediocre, but we were a team – ya'd nevah hear me say that they were bad even if they sucked balls.  ...Anyway, one day, some punk kid comes up to our second-baseman Twigs, starts yappin' to him about some school shit – an' before any of us know it, tha punk's beatin' up Twigsy like he's a punchin' bag!  I tell'im off, right, say he's just a shithead an' to stop or else, like – an' he gives me one push.  Just one shove, like.  Next thing I know, Imma standin' over the punk, blood on my bat and on my shirt... and on my face...  an' he's just lyin' there on tha ground.  I was shocked – I didn't remember pickin' up tha bat – and then coach Nashton runs over, pulls me away an' walks me to the bleachers, tellin' me to stay put.  I didn't even know tha police had come until I kinda came to my senses at the police station, and my mom was standin' there arguing with one-a tha cops.  I got sent to juvie then – my mom was in tears, an' my brothers were all there askin' me what had happened.  Pete was, like, standin' there glowerin' down at me, but Steve and Dave were talkin' to me, tellin' me it'd be okay.  I was sentenced to two years'a juvie for assault – judge told me I oughta thank my lucky stars I didn't murder tha kid – but durin' my second year, I could sign up for a job program.  Pierre got me this job an' that's what brought me here.  Turns out they needed a guy with a helluva violent attitude an' a mean sprint – they needed a sluggah like me!”

“Archie, that's...  God, that's awful and incredibly cool at the same time!”, Sam said after a second of silence, chuckling at the end.  “You're one crazy dipstick... and suddenly I feel sorry for the RED team.”

“Ya do, huh?  I'll take that as a compliment... now, izzere anythin' you needed me for, beside steamy lovin'?”  Archie managed to keep a straight face as he said it, but when Sam snorted and chuckled, he laughed along with him, and the two started talking about lighter topics.

 

“...I'm going to sleep...”, Sam said at the evening of his fourth day at the BLU compound, grinning when Archie and Yaroslav stopped their friendly arm-wrestling match to give him a thumbs-up.  '...I can't believe I told Archie that story day before yesterday...  I wonder if he meant what he said, about these guys being my 'new family' now... I mean, they're nice, and I certainly feel like one of the gang, but... when they find out, will they understand?'  The pyro had been thinking a lot about the medical exam he'd get the next day, and now he felt anxious.  'Will they-'  Sam's thoughts stopped abruptly as he rounded the corner, finding the resident soldier enter the engineer's room dressed in his nightgarb.  'Uh...', the pyro mentally stammered, dumbfounded, trying to think of a rational reason for the soldier to visit the engineer dressed in pyjamas, coming up with blanks across the board.  '...Well, I have to pass Dell's room to go to my own room...'  Whistling loudly to block out any sounds he could possibly pick up, the pyro walked briskly past, reaching his own room which he dashed into, clicking the door shut before heaving a sigh.  'Time to check the bandages again...', he mused as he undressed.  The bandages had come up clean that morning, but he was anxious to see what a day's exercise, slaving over a hot stove and playing 'tickle the heavy guy' with Archie and Yaro would have done to the scars and wounds that were still present.  Yet, to his surprise, he found no blood or pus on the bandages, and no new wounds or torn skin on his torso.  Looking at his naked body in the mirror, he saw the reflection of a scarred, pudgy, asexual being stare back at him hard and he sighed.  'In only half a month, I'll have the reconstructive surgery and then I'll be whole again...  Shit, I even look half-guy, half-girl...  Only half a month away, Sam...', he said to himself as he put on the nightgown again – the medic had laundered it that evening, so it was still slightly warm – and went to bed, trying desperately not to muse on either Jane and Dell being together or on doctor Harvey's visit the next day.

 

On Saturday morning, Archie awoke to find Arsène sitting on the edge of his bed, looking at him with a mixture of softness and appraisal.

“Good mornink, my leetle scout...”  When the scout meant to speak up, the spy put his hand over his mouth and motioned for the bed of the pyro.  “We don't want to wake up your friend, now do we?  ...I just came to tell you I cannot find a way een.  Dat door ees well protected.  But per'aps dere ees a way...  Next time Sam goes in dere, I can sneak in as well.”

“Well, Sam said something about a check-up today... and since he seems allergic to doc Steinheim, he might go to the mystery room...”, Archie whispered, and the spy nodded once before allowing the hand that had rested on the scout's chest to wander downward, causing the scout to gasp sharply as it reached its destination.

“Shh, my leetle scout, you don't want your friend to wake up, do you?”, Arsène whispered, grinning as the scout blushed, biting his lip to stop himself from making a sound to betray them.  However, when the two of them were getting into things, they heard a dry chuckle and both looked round, flushed and breathing heavily, to see the pyro sit on his bed, the ridiculously flowered nightgown looking even more odd without the usual smattering of bandages accompanying it.  But oddest of all was his head: odd plucks of bright orange hair jutting out irregularly, growing wherever the mass of white scars wasn't obvious.

“You guys, ah, having fun?”, Sam asked innocently, and Arsène jumped away from the bed as if stung, causing Archie to groan.  “Well, don't mind me... Arsène, you really shouldn't leave business unfinished.  I'll just give you some privacy...”  The pyro picked up a magazine on fireworks and walked outside, carefully closing the door – however, Arsène and Archie were too startled to do anything else but stare at the door.

“...Mille tonnère, 'e moves wizout a single noise...”, the spy stammered after a second's silence, and Archie sighed.

“Look, man, it's best he interrupted us... Listen.  I'll try an' get Sam to tell me when his doc's due here, you make sure ya can sneak in there.    ...Now lemme get dressed.”  He pushed the covers off himself and took some new boxershorts from the cupboard along with a light blue sleeveless shirt and a blue bermuda.

“Dat interruption did not make you 'appy, I see...”, Arsène said, frowning, and Archie shrugged.

“You may be inta voyeurism, ya sick fuck, but I sure as hell ain't.  Least of all with Sam watchin' – feels like I'd be violatin' him...”

“So you really do care for 'im, don't you?”, the spy said, pausing as he was fastening his tie again, and the scout could hear something akin to jealousy in his voice alongside affection and understanding, causing him to blush.

“Don't go shootin' off ya mouth in fronta Sam 'bout the fact... but yeah, dude's... different... somehow.  I dunno why, but I get tha feelin' him an' me belong, ya know?”  Archie then looked at the wall over his new friend's bed, devoid of pin-ups but with a picture of a firefighter in a heroic pose, holding a little girl on his shoulder with one hand and clutching a shiny fireaxe with the other, and sighed.  “He's a sweet guy, friendly an' shit... an' I kinda dig the scars...”

“I never knew you were dis... irregular in your tastes, mon amour...”, Arsène said, and Archie rolled his eyes.

“Well, that makes two of us then... now c'mon man, you gotta be ready for sneakin' and I gotta be there at breakfast...”


	4. Behind the door

“...So we see you again at restaurant at five, da?”

“Yes.  You guys have fun for me too, you hear?  Think of your poor pyro having to stay back here for a check-up...”  The sound of voices along with the sound of approaching footsteps made Arsène alert again, and the spy cloaked just in time for the pyro to remain unaware of his presence.  “...Oh Lord...”, Sam groaned as he took out a key from the pocket of his track pants, opening the door and pushing it open wide enough to allow Arsène to sneak inside as well.  The spy then had to clasp his hand over his mouth to stop himself from gasping in surprise.  'Dis...  Dis is extraordinaire...', he mused as he beheld a state-of-the-art medical bay visible through glass doors on one side and a small bathroom-with-toilet on the other side.  '...But why-'

“Ah, Sam!”, came a hearty voice from inside the medical bay that the pyro had just entered – Arsène managed to get inside before the door swung shut again in order to snoop on the exam.

“Doc Harvey... could we do this quickly?  My teammates are expecting me for dinner in three hours.”

“Okay... just undress behind the screen while I get the gear up and running...”, the doctor said – in stark contrast to the team's medic, the man was a fatherly type, with greying light brown hair and a weathered face betraying care for his patient.  Arsène watched the doctor punch in a code on a console near him to activate a body scanner and several machines that looked rather vicious.  But when Sam appeared again, the spy really had to keep himself from gasping.  There stood their pyro, stark naked, looking like an overgrown child – largely hairless, with a pudgy build and no evidently male or female characteristics.  The doctor looked at his patient appraisingly before nodding in approval.

“Ah!  I see your skin's almost fully repaired...  Very good!  The bandages are no longer needed, and we can cut back on the Grow-a-gen in your daily cocktail.  How's the pain?”

“Yesterday the cocktail made me woozy...”, the pyro admitted with a shy smile, causing the doctor to nod.

“So we'll leave out the Novocaine and the Nurofen...  I think it'll just be a quarter dose of Grow-a-gen, an emergency supply of Novocaine, some Pulmodan for your throat and lungs since you're still a bit hoarse... oh, yes, and let's not forget the Mydolin and the Praevitium for the scars.  Will you be needing Progyna already?”

“...When the reconstructive surgery takes place, you can give me that as well, can't you?  I mean... the indigenous population makes it kind of necessary...”, Sam said, causing the doctor to smile – Arsène wrote down the medication names on his equally invisible notebook for future reference, circling 'Progyna'.

“I see your point - indeed we can.  So I'll put you down for that as well.  Let's get started then!”  Sam walked over to a table, lifting his legs to allow the doctor to test joint mobility.  The spy then moved to the side of the examination table so that the blur of his cloaking device would be less noticeable just as the doctor spoke up again.  “Joint mobility's back to at least ninety percent...  Now comes the part you detest... part your legs...”

“Oh, doc, do we have to?”, Sam said with a sigh, and when the doctor nodded, he just moved his legs apart, after which the doctor took a closer look.

“...Hmm, there doesn't seem to be too much damage there...  Did you use the catheter all the time?”

“Yes... It did come undone about three or four days ago, but I managed to get it back in the way you showed me.”

“You can ask the team's medic for assistance when you do, you know...”, the doctor said, but Sam shook his head fiercely.

“Are you kidding me?!  He'd know immediately!  I told you, doctor... this is a team of eight men I'm working with – some of which wouldn't hesitate to commit bloody murder – what do you think knowing the truth'd do to them?  I'd be torn to shreds!”

“...I see your point.  However, the Administrator-General has complained that doctor Steinheim feels bypassed by our arrangements, so I have arranged with her that he'll do your follow-up exams, starting tomorrow evening to see how you fare without the catheter.  I expect it'll be uncomfortable at first, but remember what I taught you...”

“Drink a gallon every hour, go to the bathroom every hour, check for growths and bladderstones, and call you as soon as I piss blood – I remember, doctor...”  Sam then sighed.  “Doc Steinheim's discreet, so I guess I'm okay with it... but I swear...”

“He may be part of your ragtag band of colleagues, but he is a doctor and he will respect doctor-patient confidentiality.  I'll give you a list of the procedures he has to do, so you can give it to him tomorrow.  ...Now let's check your hair.”  The doctor checked the few patches of hair left and shook his head with a sigh.  “You'll need hair transplants...  Want to have armpit hair and pubic hair again?”

“They transplant that as well?”, the pyro said with a mixture of interest and disgust before shaking his head.  “Nah, less hair means less to shave.”  ''E shaves 'is armpits and 'is pubic 'air?', Arsène thought in confusion, raising an eyebrow before shifting a bit on his place to stay alert, missing part of Sam's next sentence.  “...you think I can ever...?”

“That's the reason for the reconstructive surgery... We must make sure you can live like you did before.  That includes intercourse, it goes without saying.  Why?  Did one of the 'indigenous population' catch your eye?”

“Hm, there's two men here that are the height of sexy, doc – I was an active twentysomething before it happened, and I intend to be again.”, Sam said, his voice showing discomfort, and the doctor raised his hands as he apologised.

“I'm sorry for embarrassing you, Sam, dear...”, he said – and again, Arsène was surprised.  'Why would zee doctor call 'im 'dear'?'  The doctor then motioned for the screen again, and Sam moved back only to appear again fully clothed.  “Now, I have some good news and some less good news regarding your psych evaluation...”

“Bad news first, doc Harvey...”, Sam said, sagging onto a chair, and the doctor nodded grimly.

“Your parents have tried to have you collocated again from abroad, this time using your new profession as a grounds for proving pyromania.”

“What?!”, the pyro said, his face a mixture of pure loathing and deep ire, but the doctor shushed him and he sat back into the chair, grumbling loudly.

“...But there's good news as well.  Your brother-”

“They finally found Michael's body?!”

“No... no, it's about your other brother, Damien.  Your two brothers were rather close, I imagine – Michael often visiting Damien.  Well, apparently during those visits, Damien apparently had Michael evaluated by a psychiatrist that diagnosed bipolar disorder.  He produced the psychiatrist's report at the hearing regarding your collocation to show that you did not light that fire, and he also testified about the job offer you got, and I'm glad to report the judge ruled there was a mistrial last time.  You're not obliged to have psych evaluations again.”

“Re-really?!  Oh, doc Harvey, that's wonderful news!”, Sam said, launching from the chair and embracing the doctor in a bear hug, swinging the man around before he chuckled.

“It is – though no reason to make me dizzy, Sam.”  He then nodded.  “I am, however, required to fill in a short questionnaire regarding your mental condition for the judge to add to the file to further prove that psychological counseling is not needed.  How do you feel about your new job?”  Arsène tuned out the conversation slightly, musing on how odd everything was – the remarks about shaving, the 'Progyna' which sounded odd, the doctor calling the pyro 'dear'...  His thoughts wandered until the doctor rose from his chair with a loud scrape of it over the tile floor.  “...I have all the info I need.  ...Well then, do you have any more questions?”

“Yeah, can I wash already?”, Sam asked, and the doctor snickered.

“Sam, dear, I take it you didn't wash for a week?  ...Of course you can shower, as long as the water is below fifty degrees and as long as you use hypoallergenic soap.  You can shower with your colleagues until the reconstructive surgery – I'd strongly suggest using the separate bathroom here afterwards, though.  ...We still have a bit of time left, is there anything you want to talk about that's non-medically related?”

“...As a matter of fact, doc, there is.  Yesterday, I, uh...  There's this soldier here, mister Doe, and he went to visit our engineer.  Only it was late at night, and the soldier had on his pyjamas already.  I don't think he needed anything mechanical fixed...”, the pyro admitted, and the doctor blushed, beckoning for his patient to sit down as he explained.

“Often, when in exclusively male company for long periods of time, men tend to... how to paraphrase it nicely...”

“Doctor Harvey, I think I can take it blunt.”, Sam said with a crooked grin, and the doctor laughed, a slightly raspy laughter that calmed the pyro.

“Okay, if you insist, the phenomenon is called 'prison homosexuality' because it mostly is seen in prison, as that's the most common male-only environment.  Sexual relationships of that kind don't involve emotions mostly – the men would have to be gay beforehand to get emotional attachment to their partner.  Also, men that suffer from prison homosexuality are usually firmly opposed to homosexuality – they do not accept their own sexual relationship as being gay, or they seek proof of their heterosexuality violently.  Perhaps tonight this soldier will visit a prostitute or something like that.”

“I kind of feel sorry for them.  I mean, both of them have wives.  Do you think I should tell them I saw the soldier?”

“...If you handle it discreetly, yes, perhaps you could.  ...I imagine many of your team have similar relationships.”

“Meh, could be...”, Sam said with a smile, shrugging, before also getting up from the chair.  “Doc, I hope I never have to see you while I'm conscious again.”

“Once more, Sam dear... I'll be picking you up the day before the procedure to bring you to the hospital, okay?”  When the pyro nodded, the doctor walked him to the door, and Arsène managed to slip along as the pyro headed out into the team's quarters again.

 

“Hoo yah!”, the scout shouted as he played the pinball machine in the bar they'd gone to – Dell had recommended it, claiming their buffalo wings and fries were the best in the dusty town – while Jane and Yaroslav had dragged Sam, Dell and Tavish into a game of poker.

“Keep yer voice down, yeh Boston half-pint!”, Tavish bellowed as he smashed his fist onto the table, slopping whisky over the coins he'd put down next to it.  “Allrigh', yeh naeves, lessee what yeh gowt!”

“Pair of aces...”, grunted Jane, and Dell shook his head.

“I got nuthin'.  Yar?”, he asked the bulky man that was sitting next to him, and the Russian grunted.

“King pair.”

“Sam?”, the Scotsman asked, but the pyro shook his head.

“Let's see what you've got first – for dramatic effect.”

“I go' a full house, laddeh!  Three dames and two kings!  I'll take yer money now, then...”, the demolition expert said, but Sam chuckled.

“I don't think so, I got a royal flush!  Feast your eyes on the ten, the royals and the ace of hearts!!”  When the engineer, the soldier, the heavy weapons man and the demoman all groaned, the pyro laughed.  “What?  I'm lucky!  ...But this was my last game, I have to quit while I'm ahead...  Plus I wanted to talk to RED's pyro – where'd he run off to now?!”

“Standink by zee bar, Sam.”, Arsène said, wearing a linen shirt and form-fitting jeans that complimented his physique, and Sam grinned.

“Off to interrogate the guy, then!  Arsène, take my place – it'll keep you out of trouble...”, the BLU pyro said, chuckling when the spy looked insulted.  Sam then took his ale firmly in hand again and wandered off to the bar, where some of the REDs were standing.  Sam recognised their scout – Billy Jameson – and their own engineer Grant Black, and she guessed the tall dark man wearing the eyepatch would be RED's demolition expert.  'Hmm... but which is their pyro?  ...I'll go for the guy to the left.'  “Uh, excuse me, would you be the RED pyrotechnician?”, he asked, and the man chuckled.

“You must be Sam... nah, son, I'm RED's soldier.  Our pyro's the one with the disagreeable face and the matching mood.  Gabe!  Git yer ass over here!”  A man further at the bar, downing a gin-n-soda, turned around, looking sour – but then he saw Sam and he grinned a manic grin, walking over briskly.

“Hey kiddo!  You must be Sam, BLU's pyro... pleasure to meet you outside of battle!”

“Likewise...  Name's Sam Tennant – I'm guessing Billy introduced me?”

“Yeah, he was really excited to get to meet you.  Couldn't stop talking about it.”  The man the extended his hand.  “But I'm completely forgetting my manners!  I'm Gabriel Dantan, but everyone calls me Gabe, Dante, or Chuckles.”  The other man then cast an appraising gaze at Sam, who smiled.  “...Why don't I buy you something hard and strong?”

“Mm, can't drink yet... still under pain meds.”, Sam said apologetically, but the other pyro shook his head.

“Sammy, kiddo, you'll soon learn that a stiff drink takes the edge off the week.  B'sides, if you get too drunk to walk, your scout and spy'll carry you right back to your bed and tuck you in nice'n'tight.”

“I betcha they would...”, Sam said with a grin, and the other pyro laughed heartily.

“See?  That's what being a pyro means!  You get to be the odd one out.  ...So, what's your poison?  Gin?  Whisky like ol' Tav and Graeme?  Vodka like Yaroslav and Radovan?”

“Eh... actually, I don't really pick-and-choose...”, Sam said hesitantly, and Gabriel nodded.

“Ey, bartender, bring us two of yer strongest shots and don't spare the bottle!”, he shouted at the barkeep before turning back to Sam, speaking softly.  “So... anyone on your team try to, y'know, get to know you up close 'n personal yet?”

“Not like you mean.  I mean, Archie's pretty open and only God knows what goes on in that dirty mind of his, and Arsène keeps looking at me with bedroom eyes-”

“Hah, that's a good one...”, Gabriel admitted, and Sam chuckled before continuing:

“-but I let them in.  The others are amiable but distant.  Dell and Jane are kind, though, and our medic, doctor Steinheim, is kind of fatherly in his own twisted way.  What about you?  Anyone apart from the scout that shares a moment with you?”

“I can hear you've been looking through keyholes – or listening to the right persons...  To answer: the demoman's been known to like long showers in company... and our medic's been known to get into some things he'd better stay away from... but other than those bits of fun, I'm strictly Will's man.”  He then downed another shot, and Sam followed suit before calling the barkeep over for a refill.  “You tryin' to get me drunk, kiddo?”, Gabriel asked, and Sam shook his head.

“Not trying, succeeding, Mumbles.  ...So, got any stories to share about your guys?”


	5. Three times the same conclusion

The scout was lying awake, staring at the ceiling, when he heard laughter in the hallway which he immediately recognised as belonging to Sam and the RED pyro Gabriel.  He'd seen the both of them down shots of sixty grade grain liquor, and the way they were stumbling all over the hallway was telltale.

“Heh heh... and then John sayz to Graeme, “Git yer own, ya Scottish brute!” and Graeme fell over in shocks ahfore smacking John from thisside of the room to the other side!”

“Ohohohow lord... Now sssssshussssh, we're at my room, Mumbles.”

“Hey, ah, wanna have some drunk fun?  Imma pretty athletic guy, and Will's probably enjoying summan else's attention...”

“I don't think you'd go for me, Gabe, but thanks for the invitation.  Go have yourself a heapa drunk fun with Billy – or take stupid pictures of you air-guitaring with that fireaxe of yours stark naked.  Send'em over and I'll put'em up over my bed.”

“Oooooooh!  We could both air-guitar stark naked!  ...ah yeah, forgot...  Sorry...”, the RED pyro said demurely after a while before obviously pushing Sam against the wall – there was a soft 'thud' followed by a half-moan from Sam.  “Fuckit, Sammy, that was excellent...”  Sam then whispered something in Gabe's ear – the effect was a soft chuckle before another round of rowdy laughter.  “Oh man, I'm bettin' your teammates gonna rip you several new ones when they find that one out!  Too bad though, you french kiss like a god.  Have fun with Archie tanight!”

“Sure you don't wanna have some fun with me after all?  I mean, just because the bottom part's outta commission don't mean the top part is...”

“...mmm...”, the other pyro softly moaned in the hallway, and then they detached apparently, both breathing heavily.  “...We both know we too drunk to get it on, Sam, hun!  But thanks for the offer – I'll take you up on that another time...”

“Sure ya will...  ...Yeah, yeah... you know where to find me, ya psycho axe murderer.”, Sam said before fumbling with the doorhandle, stumbling in to find Archie stare at him in disbelief.  “...helloow there, Arch!  Ignore everything you just heard, except the part about my french kissin'.  Please inform Arsène of that too, wouldya?”  Sam closed the door with his foot before flopping down onto his bed, groaning.  “Dammit, I wish he coulda stuck it to me... I wish I didn't run into a burning building... getting fried don't do shit for your sex life, Archie...”  Meanwhile, Sam had managed to get off everything but a boxer short patterned in flowers and one blue sock.

“...Would you really let Gabriel do you?”, Archie asked, but the only answer he got from his drunk team mate was a rumbling snore, causing him to grin.  'Ah well, guess he woulda fallen asleep whatevah he was doin' – or whoevah...  I don't want Gabriel runnin' off with Sam, dammit!'

 

The next day, Sam awoke with a pounding headache that was aggravated by the knowledge he had to see the medic later that day for his check-up.

“Ohohow, man, ya look like ya've been hit by a truckload-a-pain...”, Archie said as he handed a glass of water to the ailing pyro, who then used it to swallow his morning regime of pills.  “Uh... ain'tcha missin' some o' those pills?”

“No, the doctor told me yesterday that I could cut back on the pills.  I'm on quarter dose Grow-a-gen, Pulmodan, Mydolin and Praevitium.  ...Want to know what they do?”, the pyro asked, sitting down on the edge of his bed, motioning for the scout to do so as well.  “...The green one with the cross is the Grow-a-gen, it boosts natural tissue regeneration.  That's what miraculously cut back my need for bandages.  I still have some places where the skin's growing back slower, like my behind, which is why I still need to take it.  Then there's the Pulmodan, that little blue pill, to clear my lungs and my bronchi which got toasted by the fire-”

“Hey, man... I-if ya lungs get burnt, don't you, like, die?”, Archie asked, and Sam nodded gravely.

“I was dead.  Heartbeat and breathing gone for forty-five seconds – and then the doctor discovered only my left lung was burnt by dumb luck.  He was inexperienced, and he ended up pushing the oxygen tube down my right lung, and my heartrate picked right back up with some help from the AED.  ...Anyway, with only my left lung burnt, they figured the Grow-a-gen could restore it as well, and it did so... but for the residual damage, I need to take Pulmodan some more.  The Mydolin – that's the orange-and-blue pill –  is for my digestive tract.  It helps my liver and kidneys a bit after all the crud they got in after the fire.  And the one that looks like a tiny lump of coal's Praevitium, it prevents wild growths in the scarred parts – especially the service exits...”, Sam finished with a dry chuckle, which Archie mirrored.

“Hey man, I gotta lot-a respect for you, dude...  Even more now I know ya, like, died.  I mean it, Sam, you da man!”

“...Thanks, that means a lot coming from you, you airhead.  ...Aaand we add one Aspiraid for the hangover – do you know what Gabriel was pouring down my throat yesterday?”

“What didn't he?  But the kari-yokie was sweet, brotha – you an' him were singin' “Burning down the house” with the most manic expressions...  ...Hey, ah, Sam...”, the scout then asked hesitantly as his friend put on a long T-shirt before removing his old boxer shorts to replace them with a new pair, this one light blue patterned with smiley faces.

“Mmyeah?”, the pyro responded, smiling.

“...Do you fancy Gabe?”  He gauged the pyro attentively for any response, and found that a soft blush crept up his cheeks.

“I remember that he french kisses like you can't imagine – hot, sweet, loads and loads of tongue used expertly.  He's got a hot body, I felt it.  He got me very hot very fast... but that's just because I'm a bit deprived.  It's been three months since I last got some action, my friend.  Hell, it could've been bloody Jane kissing me and I would've reacted the same.”  Sam then grinned.  “I got a little explanation yesterday from doc Harvey on how men tend to go bendy when they don't have a woman around for weeks, months and years on end.”

“Not me, dude – I mean, I've known I'm cheerin' for both teams ever since I learnt I was cheerin' for any team at all.”

“You been with a woman?”, Sam asked, blushing, and Archie nodded.

“Only once, though.  Sally Jean Mayfield, she was in my class.  We were fifteen, we were 'in love'... it was bound ta happen between her an' me, ya know?”

“I think I do know...  I still remember my first, too.  ...And had you been with a man, before Arsène, I mean?”

“Mmhm...”, Archie said, stretching, a slightly dazed expression on his face.  “Billy Palmer, guy was literally on the same team as me.  We'd stay behind after practice and do each other in the showers... man, those were the days...”  He then turned to Sam.  “Why'd ya ask?”

“Oh... just... curious...”, Sam said airily, rising from the bed with a sigh.  “Man, I'm so hungry I could eat a stack of pancakes!  ...I'm heading to the breakfast room, Archie, meet you there, okay?”

“Awright!”, the scout said, chuckling when the pyro pulled the door closed oblivious of Arsène, who had snuck in quickly, uncloaking when the door clicked shut.  “So... you said yesterday ya got somethin'?”

“Eendeed I 'ave...  Sam's doctor listed some medication I 'ad not 'eard of before, and I thought we could look up zee information today...”

“I think we'd best wait until three – Sam said his doc gave the medic the okay to do some basic exams on him today.”, Archie said, tying his shoelaces, causing Arsène to chuckle.

“Den I shall return 'ere after lunch-”

“Whah, lunch?”, Archie interrupted him, sounding surprised, and the spy nodded.

“Eet ees 'alf past one already...  You and zee pyro overslept, my leetle scout.  ...I'll wait 'ere after lunch, ees dat alright?”  When the scout nodded, the spy patted him on the back before cloaking, following his lover outside and uncloaking when they neared the breakfast room.

 

“Zo... Zam...  Please, haff a zeat.”, doctor Steinheim said softly, and Sam nodded, sitting down on the offered chair with a bashful blush, eyes cast down.  “Before ve start, is zere anything you vould vant to know?”

“Doctor Steinheim... there's nothing I still need to ask, except your promise...”  The pyro hesitated, swallowing before continuing: “C-can you promise me that you'll honour doctor-patient confidentiality to the very strictest?”

“Vhy, ov course I can, Zam...”, the medic answered, smiling.  “But vhy would you vant to-”

“Did you look at doc Harvey's list of exams to do and my files?”, the pyro asked, and the medic shrugged.

“I sought I could do zo as you undrezhed for zhe exam...”

“I'll go – take a look at the file, doctor Steinheim... it'll save you a nasty surprise in a minute...”, Sam answered, getting up off the chair and disappearing behind the screen.  When the doctor gasped, it didn't come as a surprise.

“Z-Za-zamantha?!”

“...That's my name.  Sam's not short for Samuel, but for Samantha.”, the pyro said as she reappeared, stark naked.  “That's also the reason why I didn't want you to do the exams in the first place – well, that, and the fact that I needed psych reviews until doc Harvey told me I won't be forced to have my brain picked again yesterday...”  She hopped up onto the examination table.  “So, uh... this is kind of awkward...”

“I shall be professionality perzonified, Zamantha...  I am zorry... Zam.  Just zpread your legs zo I can look at zhe damage.  ...Mmhm...  I vill haff to insert a zmall camera in your urethra...  Vait, I vill-”

“Nah, just stick it up there, doctor – I can bear it, I've been fried alive, remember?”, Sam said, and the doctor chuckled.

“Vividly.  Okay, zis might burn slightly...”  He inserted the wire, carrying a small camera, into Samantha's urethra and looked on the screen.  “...Hmm, I do not zee any growths...  Zis seems in order.  ...I see on zis list zat doktor Harvey asked me to do an internal examination as well... do you mind?”

“Doctor, you've seen me naked, I think the point for squeamishness has come and gone.”  Doctor Steinheim took out the duckbill instrument used for gynaecological exams and lubricated it.

“I haff alvays wondered why we've had zis...  Zis might be zlightly cold...”, he said before inserting it, causing Sam to gasp.

“Holy mother of Christ, that's cold!”, she said loudly, blushing slightly in shame before sighing.  “...Give me a second...  Pfff...”

“It is understandable, Zam.  Now, let us zee...  Everything seems in order internally... but zhe outside part of your genitalia iz not.  Your labia are a mess, and zhe skin is still raw at zhe edges of your vagina.  I vould vait to have intercourse for a while.  Vill zhe doctors be reconstructing-”

“Yes.  Yes, they will.  I used to have a D-cup, but they had to... you know... too much damage.  So they'll give me my femininity back in half a month.  Until then no one'll even know I'm a girl except for you and me.”, Sam said, sighing as the doctor removed the instrument from her.  “...Gabe knows, too, though.”

“Did you and he...”, the medic said, and Sam shook her head.

“No.  Not for lack of either of us trying, though, but we were hella drunk last night.  ...He said the team'll rip me several new ones...  doctor Steinheim, do you think...  I mean, I'll be a lone woman in the company of seventeen men.  I don't even want to think about how they'll react to the fact that I'm not the cool guy they all think I am...”

“Iz it zeir reaction you fear or zeir lust?”, the doctor asked, and Sam shrugged.

“Mostly their reaction.  ...And also the other thing.  I mean, Dell and Jane are married, but still... they'll be on my arse like white on rice... and I can't even imagine Yaroslav's reaction...  Or Tavish'...  Oh hell, or Theo's response – that guy's been riling me at dinner for days!”

“Zhe men will give you hell at first, but if you tell zem zhe first day you return that you are still zhe same Sam that fought alongside zem – that you just happen to be a woman...  Jane, Tavish and Dell may teaze you a bit, but zey will not harass you.  Yaroslav will certainly not.”

“I wonder why...”, Sam said with a crooked grin, which the medic returned.

“Zose insiunations vill not do, Zam.  He is interested in a more... homely type of woman.  You are not attractive to him.  But Ted, Arsène and Archie might actually stop zeeing you as Zam and start zeeing Zamantha.”  The medic then looked at Sam when she laughed, raising an eyebrow.

“Arsène would love to try, Ted knows he's an ugly git and Archie...” The following silence, as she let her voice trail away, was telltale.

“You vouldn't mind, is zat what you are zaying?”, the medic asked shrewdly, and Sam shrugged.

“...He's a good guy.  We're not that far apart – what age is he, twenty?  Twenty-one?  I'm twenty-four now...  Anyway, we get along alright.  I'll have to bunk with him even after the reconstructive surgery, and I'm aware what could happen... I honestly can't say the idea upsets me.  He's a great guy, and he is very attractive.”

“...I zee...  Now, I vill need you to close your eyes momentarily.  Doctor Harvey has asked me to do an... unorthodox... responsivity test...”

“Hm?”, Sam said in confusion, complying – and the next thing she knew, the medic was again probing inside her, only that time his thumb was exploring the exterior – with his extensive medical knowledge, he knew where he needed to be, and waves of pure bliss coarsed through the pyro.  “D-doctor Steinheim...”, she said in a half-moan, the stimulation sharp after weeks of deprivation.

“Es tut mir leid, Zamantha...”, he answered with a blush of embarrassment.  “Just... forget zat you are in a medical bay... forget zat it's me doing zis...”  Samantha blushed as well, closing her eyes, remembering her last lover and their bedroom activities, and the thought along with the doctor's methodical work brought her to her peak almost immediately.  Doctor Steinheim calmly waited for the pyro to get her breathing eased again, using the brief interval to calm himself as well.  “...I am zorry, but doctor Harvey needed to know zhe extent of zhe nerve damage in your private parts...”

“I believe that got responses out of me... holy moly...  I feel like I ran a marathon...”, Sam admitted before smiling.  “Doctor-patient confidentiality, hm, doctor Steinheim?”

“I sink you are entitled to call me Ziegfried...”, the medic admitted before replying: “Indeed.  I vill not share a word of zis with anyone.  But you should zeriously consider telling everyone before your surgery.”

“Tell you what, doc- uh, Siegfried...  You can tell them what the reconstructive surgery is for after I've left.  I... I just couldn't.  But I will tell Archie before I leave – he deserves to know first, he's going to have to share a room with me.  ...Don't be shy.  It was a medical procedure, wasn't it?”, the pyro said as she got dressed again, and the doctor nodded.

“Vell, yes, of course it vos... but zat does not mean, Zam, that it felt awkward and wrong... and forbidden...”

“Siegfried, don't worry about it.  If it helps me become like I was again, how can it be wrong – and if it was just an exam, how can it be forbidden?”  Sam put on her loose T-shirt again and shook her head, the small clumps of hair suddenly looking pitiful to the medic.  “I'm going back to my room now.  I'll see you at dinner?”  When the medic nodded, still looking slightly ashamed, the pyro chuckled.  “Siegfried, would it feel less forbidden, awkward or wrong if doctor Harvey had asked you to watch me do it myself, hm?  ...Forget where your fingers were, forget what you were testing... and it's just another medical examination.  ...See you at dinner...”

“Zam...”, the medic sighed as the door of the medical bay closed with a soft metallic click, taking a deep breath before removing his gloves and chucking them in the wastebin, discarding them as he discarded his confusion and shame of moments earlier.

 

However, meanwhile, Archie and Arsène were staring at the screen of the scout's laptop in disbelief.

“The fuck is happenin', man?!”, Archie exclaimed.  “This can't be right, Arsaine, it can't...”

“Eet ees what I ‘eard zee doctor say.  “Will you be needing zee Progyna already?”, 'ee asked Sam.”  The spy then suddenly froze before bumping away the scout's hands from the keyboard, rapidly typing the address to a search engine and typing in 'petrol station fire arson'.

“The hell ya doin', Arsaine?!”, the scout said, but then his eyes widened as Arsène clicked on one of the links taking them to a news article dated three months earlier.  “'...mrs. and mister Tennant, whose seventeen-year-old son Michael died in the explosion and whose-'”  The scout froze as well, abruptly stopping when his eyes fell on the next line.

“'...and whose twenty-four year old daughter, Samantha, was gravely eenjured in zee ensuink fire...'  I was tellink you zee truth, Archie.  Sam ees short for Samantha... our Sam ees a woman.”

“...Nah, that can't be...  I mean... dude wears boxers...”

“Women can also wear zee boxer-shorts, my leetle scout...”

“...he doesn't mind my pin-ups...”

“Per'aps because she ees a woman 'erself, or because she ees also attracted to women.”

“...and he almost did it with Gabriel, an' he would never go for a woman!”

“Gabriel ees not 'ow you believe 'im to be, Archie – like you, 'e – 'ow did you put eet again? - 'e swings both ways... even eef 'e prefers men.”

“Still, if Sam's a broad, why wouldn't he – I mean, she – tell us right from the start?”

“Well, my leetle scout, per'aps because 'er body was burnt so badly all 'er feminine traits died in zee fire.  I saw 'er body, dere was nuzzink to show she was male or female.  Per'aps she is ashamed.  And per'aps she fears our reactions.”

“Still...”  The sound of approaching footsteps caused them to look up in alarm, shutting down the internet page hastily – and just in time, for Sam entered the room, drawing up an eyebrow before smiling.

“Arsène, Archie, what brings you together in front of a laptop suddenly?  Watching internet porn together now?”

“Uh...”, Archie started, blushing so violently he glowed, but Arsène shook his head, speaking in a disapproving tone:

“Sam, what we were or were not doink is of no eemportance.  Not all we do ees sex-related, you know...”

“Yeah, I know.  Sorry for assuming.  ...Guys, mind if I just change here?  I don't have time to shower before cooking dinner anymore, but these clothes aren't suited for close contact with fire.  ...No objections?  Alrighty then!  Arsène, please stop looking at me like you're going to assault me, I don't feel comfortable like this...”, the pyro said as he – Archie obstinately kept thinking 'he', not willing to believe what Arsène and the websites had told him – stripped down to his boxer shorts and socks before putting on track pants and a long-sleeved sweater with nothing underneath, both articles of clothing dark blue and patterned with a motif of lighter blue text repeating 'RAVECRASHBURNREVIVE' over and over.  Archie swallowed as he saw his friend almost naked – even if he didn't believe that Progyna was an IUD, even if he didn't believe Sam was short for Samantha, even if the pyro didn't look feminine, he didn't look very masculine either.  Yet, whether male or female, somehow the pyro's scars made him feel hot, and his blush returned full force.  He got up very delicately and walked out, muttering something about the bathroom, but once he arrived in the toilet stall, he merely sat down, his head in his hands, and sighed.  'I can't believe it...  I won't believe it...  That can't be...'

“Does eet really matter dat much, Archie?”  Arsène's worried voice, though still sounding slightly amused as well, indicated the spy was standing right outside the stall.  “You would like 'im or 'er regardless, non?”

“...'Course I would – 'course I do!  It's just...  It all don't make sense.  It just don't.  Sam's... Sam.  Not Samantha, jus'... Sam.  How could she be some frilly-ass girl?”

“She ees not a frilly demoiselle, Archie... she ees our pyrotechnician.  'Er profession is burnink sinks.”

“Burnin' sinks?”, Archie said suddenly, snorting with laughter, all unease falling away – Arsène laughed along with him for a full minute before they both turned serious again.  “I know she's not some airhead broad.  I know she ain't like all the other dames.  Maybe I kinda knew already... part of me thought she was different.  ...But she looks, like, totally un-feminine...”

“I eemagine dat is why she will have zee reconstructive surgery...”, Arsène suggested, and Archie sighed.

“I hope those docs turn her into a killah sexy chick.  Not that that matters, though...  She jus' deserves it, what with her parents bein' bitches...  She deserves everythin', man...”  It was Arsène's turn to sigh then, and the spy leaned against the door.

“You will make 'er very 'appy, my leetle scout... I can only 'ope she'll make you just as 'appy.  ...Now, let's go back to your room.  I took zee laptop to my room on zee way 'ere, but Sam said she wanted to ''ang out' with you.  She tolerates my présence for your sake, I sink.”

“...Arsène?”, Archie said, opening the stall door and emerging, still looking a bit pale but no longer as distressed as he had before, and the spy smiled.

“Yes, my leetle scout?”

“...You're really not jealous, are ya?”

“You are an adult, Achie, and you decide 'ow to live your life, not me.  I 'ave to respect your choices.  But no, I am not one for zee jalousie... I never 'ave been.  Make 'er 'appy.”

“Don't worry 'bout that, Arsène, Imma make her kiss tha rainbow!”


	6. Crazy like a pyro

The next morning, when Sam entered the breakfast room ready for a new week of fighting, she was surprised to find a large stack of letters on the table.

“Uh... what's with the letters?”, she asked, and Tavish, who stood in the kitchen boiling milk for his breakfast, looked at her in mild surprise.

“Mail day, laddeh, di'n anay-un tell yeh?  ...Ah, righ', yeh were nae here las' week until Mun-dai late...  Mun-dai morn' is when the mailman comes, an' we git ahr families' mail an' get tah send ahr ohn...”

“Hm, don't think I'll get much...”, she said, but to her surprise, the engineer headed over to her with three envelopes.

“Sam, this here's your mail.  I reckon y'all got one letter from RED's pyro, though, so that don't count...  But still, two letters, that's a good haul.”

“Who would...”, Sam started, opening the first envelope, which was oddly unstamped, to find a short note written in a neat handwriting she recognised from her prescriptions – a note from doctor Harvey.  She read it out loud mentally: 'Dear Sam, I have received doctor Steinheim's notes by e-mail and am glad to inform you that your revalidation can be cut short.  You will only need to be absent from your job for two weeks at the most.  Also, please speak to doctor Steinheim to obtain some pH-neutral soap.  I'll see you in two weeks.  Best regards, doctor Benjamin Harvey.'  The second stamped envelope was a bit thicker, and the handwriting was slightly slanted – when she realised who the letter was from, she felt a jolt through her heart like a bolt of lightning.  Opening the envelope, she sat down on the sofa.

'Dear Sam, I hope your job is okay.  By now, doctor Harvey will probably have told you of Michael's diagnosis already – and of mum and dad's second attempt to have you collocated.  I am so sorry you had to go through all that, Sam.  I've called them as soon as I found out, telling them in very choice words how I felt about my own parents treating my sibling – their child – as filth.  As you can guess, mum threw a right fit and swore never to speak to me again, slamming down the receiver.  Truth is, Sam, I suddenly am not certain that dad is all that angry at you as he is overpowered by mum's anger.  He sounded soothing on the background, and I swear I could hear him say that she was overreacting again...  I beg of you, Sam, if you can find it in your heart... understand them, too.  I know they have hurt you deeply, and I know forgiving them is perhaps not possible, but if you understand their pain, perhaps you might not hate them.  As for me, I'll look for your letters, your phone calls, and your visits with joyous anticipation.  Know that you will forever have my love and support...  Forever your loving brother, Daniel.  PS: If it is okay with you, I'll come visit you in the hospital after your surgery.  I can't wait to see you restored to your full beauty and glory once more!'  The pyro sighed, her eyes suddenly conspicuously moist – wiping them surreptitiously, she turned to the unstamped envelope with an untidy scrawl reading her name.  Inside was a short note and a dozen photographs, all of which made her blush violently.  The scout noticed and looked at the pictures as well, chuckling when he saw what they depicted.

“I told you Gabe's one crazy fuckah...  Man, howzat even physically possible?!”

“I'll be true to my promise – these're going up above my bed.  Wanna help me get something to return the favour?”, she asked with a mischievous wink, causing Archie to blush softly.

“Aw man, why do I haveta be the one that gets tortured?!”  He then noticed the note and read it out loud – though taking care that only the two of them could hear it.  “'Heya Sam, hope the hangover wasn't hell.  Here's sumthing to drool over – remember these go above your bed for sweet, hot dreams.  I'm hoping you find some time and a willin' help from Archie to return the favour.  Also, let's not get drunk off our asses this coming weekend.  Lookin' forward to meeting you on the battlefield, ya psycho.  Remember, I'm coming for you!  Love, kisses an' a hot fuck, Gabriel.'  Ohohow... he sure knows how to charm ya, don't he?”

“Mmmhm...”, Sam said, nodding dreamily, and Archie sighed.

“So what's he mean, 'return the favour'?  He doesn't mean...”

“Myeah.  So get your camera ready, 'cause I am going to be using that fireaxe and that flamethrower like they're my-”

“Ah, Zam, could I haff a vord wiz you?”, the medic interrupted, noticing the photos on Sam's lap and blushing just as profusely as the pyro had done moments before.  Sam nodded.

“We can talk outside – I need to take these to my room anyway.  ...Don't worry, Siegfried, this is just a kind of joke...  I thought he'd forgotten about that, drunk off our arses as we were...”, she reassured the medic once they were outside.  Doctor Steinheim nodded, rolling his eyes.

“It iz not mein concern vhat you do, Zam...  I haff gotten ein e-mail from zat doctor of yours, doctor Harvey, about your revalidazion...”

“I know, I got his note.  I only have to stay away for two weeks – which is great, because I really like what I'm doing here.  It's an exciting job.”

“It iz, iz it not?”, the medic agreed, smiling.  “Very vell, zen I vill not hold you any longer.  ...My, zat is an interesting pose...”, he said, plucking one of the photos of Gabe out of Sam's hands, blushing slightly.  The pyro just smiled.

“I know.  He's one crazy sick guy... but then again, aren't we all to some extent?  He's just very open about it... I like that.”  Sam then retreated into her and the scout's room, chuckling as she pinned the photos over her bed at the head-end.  '...Aren't we all a bit crazy somehow?'

 

The next days flew by to Archie – the battles kept his mind off the fact that Sam was probably a girl, but in the evenings, when she put on a long-sleeved sweatshirt and a flowery apron for cooking, he kept thinking how she looked underneath.  Or, which was infinitely worse, when she went for a shower – always conspicuously before or after the rest had done so – he kept thinking about joining her.  The fact that she'd enlisted his help in taking naked photos of herself playing around with her fireaxe and flamethrower were on his mind constantly – and when she finally locked the door after their final battle of the week, holding a polaroid camera in her hands, he thought he'd faint due to pure nerves.

“I, ah...”, he stammered, but Sam nodded.

“I know.  I'm feeling just as nervous – this is crazy.”  The pyro then grinned, reminding Archie of how she'd ran around on the battlefield that day, frying the enemy scout three times.  He had had to grin the third time as well – the RED scout had been pumped full of shotgun pellets before he realised who it was, and by then Sam's flamethrower was practically up his ass already to finish the job.  “But never you mind how crazy this is – you're not the one that has to stand here in nothing but nature's given fondling a fireaxe.”

“Are you really gonna send them to Gabe?”, Archie asked, and Sam shrugged.

“He stripped for me and did that.  I'm surprised he didn't dislocate his knee doing it... the least that deserves is a couple of nude shots of me.  Oh... I've got to warn you, though... I was burnt badly down there, there's...”

“Sam, I know.”, Archie said, his face feeling hot, and the pyro looked at her friend.

“What do you mean?”, she asked, sounding amused but feeling anxious suddenly – Archie paled and stammered something inaudible, causing her to repeat her question.

“I know you're a chick, Sam.  Arsène spied on your medical exam...”

“He did what?!  That sick perverted bastard!  I'm going to beat him into the next era!!”, the pyro said hotly, eyes flashing in anger, and Archie paled.

“Don't, okay?!  He only did it 'cause I asked!  I was worried, brotha!”  He half expected an angry outburst from his friend, but she froze, blushing.

“...'Brother'?”, Sam repeated softly, causing Archie to nod.

“Only Arsène 'n' me know, Sam, an' we both don't care if you're a chick or a dude...  I mean, you're still tha wicked-ass pyrotechnician that burns people to tha ground with a manic laugh.  You're still the one cooking us weird shit for dinner, and you're still the one that got drunk and played cards with us last weekend!  It don't make no difference for me an' him – who cares if Sam stands for Samantha?”  He was then thrown unceremoniously onto his bed by the force of Sam's hug.

“Archie, you have no idea how great that makes me feel!!!”, she said loudly, and the scout blushed, chuckling softly to hide his unease.

“Heh heh... yeah, ya can let go now, Sam...”

“Oh, yeah, oops...”, she said shyly, detaching herself and getting back up from the bed.  However, she hesitated by the side of her own bed, her hands on the hem of her sweatshirt, and Archie knew what she was wondering before she even posed the question that was on her mind.

“It also means I still don't mind seein' you naked.  If you weren't ashamed before, Sam, now's not a good time to be startin'...”

“Oh... mmhmm, you're right...”, the pyro said, pulling her sweatshirt over her head before losing her pants, her boxer-shorts and her socks, finally standing completely naked in front of her friend, who blushed again as he saw the light accentuate her scars.  “Uhm...  I've got no inspiration whatsoever...”

“Ya know what?  You just wait here an' I'll get ya some original props...”, Archie said with the crooked grin he usually got whenever he drank a can of Bonk in battle.  He unlocked the door, dashed outside and returned after a minute or two with a bag.  “...Here ya go, I raided Engie's room while he was in the shower.  These're all busted, so there's no danger... but they're all kinds!  We've got Arsène's old cigarette case complete with a few ciggies... Tavish' stickies – they're defused and they don't stick no more, so don't worry...  One of Engie's hard hats and wrenches he had lyin' around...”

“I get your idea... tell you what, if you lend me your cap and your bat, I'll start off with you!”  Archie grinned, removing his baseball cap and handing his bat over to his friend, who put on the cap, grinned as she adjusted the microphone, and then took a stance as if she was going to swing the bat upward.

“Uh... maybe I should do a second shot of all of 'em, just to make sure...”, he said, feeling himself becoming aroused just with the knowledge his friend was taking a sexy pose in front of him – not even the actual pose turned him on as much as the fact she trusted him so deeply.

“Uh-huh... I'll bet you would want to make sure...”, Sam said with a crooked grin, and Archie took two pictures, not even able to respond to the sentiment because whatever he'd try to say, it'd never convey just how love and lust mingled within him into one hot mess at that moment.  Willing himself to continue, he managed to get all the pictures taken in duplo without losing control – and before he knew it, Sam had put her clothes back on and was putting the broken weapons back into the bag.

“I'll, uh, just take 'em back now, 'kay?”, the scout said, blushing still, and the pyro nodded.

“Okay... oh, and Archie?  ...I'm sorry to have teased you.  But it was the same for me...”, she said, and the scout nearly dropped the bag.  'She can't possibly mean she got turned on by that, too...  Holy fuck, I don't think I've been this painfully hard evah...  I'll just dump this shit in front of Engie's room with a thank you note and do sumthin' 'bout this...', he mused as he softly closed the door behind him, dragging the bag through the empty hallways.

 

That Saturday brought the RED and BLU mercenaries back to the bar they'd been at the previous weekend.  Sam and Archie had been joined by Billy, Gabriel and Arsène, and the five of them were exchanging stories while drinking whatever the barkeep brought them.

“An' so I said to him 'What are you worried 'bout, honey?  You don't have to do a thing except lie there...', and he just looked at me in disbelief.”

“Wait... what?”, Archie mumbled, and Billy rolled his eyes at his BLU counterpart.

“Ya really should pay attention to Sam when dude's talkin'...”  The wink the scout added to those words testamented that he, too, was in on the secret – they had silently agreed to keep Sam's true identity between them, and the pyro could only thank every supreme being for their understanding.  “...Say, how's about goin' to that new place a few streets away?  They got tha newest in entertainment...”

“Meh... you guys go, I'm tired and I need my beauty sleep – can't be the psycho fireaxe killer without some decent rest, can I?”, Sam said, and Gabriel nodded.

“Sounds like a good plan.  Billy, you take Archie and Arsène for a good time – treat them to a few drinks on me, ya hear?”  When his friend nodded, the two pyros left the bar, and the two scouts dragged the spy along to the other bar where there were indeed some more modern videogames and an elaborate karaoke stage – however, Archie suddenly felt tired as well.  He stretched and yawned, turning to his friend and his RED counterpart.

“Uh, ya guys... Imma gonna get me some sleep as well.  You just have fun, 'kay?”

“Aww, hell...”, Billy said with an expression of defeat before grinning.  “Mind if I borrow ya spy for a night?”

“You can have him 'till kingdom come, 's long as I get some sleep...”, Archie mumbled, exiting again.  Somehow he ended up at the compound again, his feet finding their way automatically, it seemed.  'Jeez, that coulda been a perfectly good night... but nooo, my stupid brain decides to shut down all systems...  I coulda gotten-', he mused, eyelids drooping, but his thoughts and his feet stopped abruptly, his mind alert and awake, when he heard the sounds coming from his room.

“Oooh, Christ, Gabe...  T-that's the spot...”

“Oh... Mmm, yeah, just like that...  Sam, you're... ah... amazing...”  There was no mistaking what was going on between his friend and the other team's pyro – their heavy breathing, the sound of skin on skin, their moans, the creaking of her bed...  Archie found himself both furious with Gabriel for doing it with his friend – and furious with himself for being jealous.  The two pyros' activities then increased, their moans growing more and more urgent and their breaths turning into gasps of pleasure.

“S-shit, I'll...”, Gabriel ground out inside the room, and Sam's wavering moan drowned out that of her lover.  Archie felt dazed as he still stood in front of the door, frozen in shock, and just as he snapped out of it, turning to walk away, he heard another creak of Sam's bed – she or Gabe had gotten up – and the RED's pyro spoke up: “...So Arch took the pictures?”

“Yeah... you jealous?”, Sam replied, her voice lazy and betraying extreme comfort – Archie grinned when he imagined her purring like a cat.

“A bit.  Here's this hot guy, only three years younger than you and not ten years older like me, sharing a room with you and seeing you naked whenever he wants...  He wants you, you know.  I saw it in his eyes tonight – he's lustin' for you so hard he had trouble concentrating on anything else.”

“Archie, want me?  How could he, I'm ugly as shit...  You've got to be mistaken, Gabe.”

“...He finds you beautiful even now, even when you're not half the woman you were before that fire.  He's turned on by your scars, too.”  The RED pyro then chuckled.  “...I'll go now before he walks in here and kills me.  He was murderin' me from across the table before, even if he himself don't know it.  Tell him he can keep the picture of you wearing his hat and wielding his bat.  The rest of 'em will do great above my bed for those lonely nights...”

“Um, Gabe, just so we're completely in sync here... don't expect anything, okay?  I feel a bit...  I dunno, it just doesn't feel right...”

“You got it for him, too, then?”, the pyro asked, and Archie turned back to the door, intently listening for his friend's reaction – however, there was no verbal response to the question, and after a while, Gabriel chuckled.  “I see... and I kinda understand too.  Well, good night then – sweet dreams, ya kinky dipshit.”

“Right back atcha, psycho fucker...”  Archie bolted as silently as he could from the door, waiting a full minute until he heard Gabe's footsteps die away before walking back to the door and casually opening it to find Sam put on her pyjamas – a short and T-shirt patterned with hands doing the victory sign.  “Oh, hey, Archie... you're back early.  Didn't have fun?”

“Yeah, I did – only I fell asleep standing, an' I decided to call it an early night.  Figured you'd need the company.  So... did Gabe finally rape yo ass?”

“Not exactly, no...”, Sam said with a smile, and Archie sighed.

“Whaddaya mean, 'not exactly'?”, he asked, causing his friend to smirk.

“I mean we didn't have sex.  We knew you were standing out there, we did it just to rile you.  ...Don't look like you're about to die!”, the pyro said in the end, and Archie's only response was to hit her on the head softly.

“Ya just love fuckin' with my mind, huh?”, he said, smiling as well, and Sam shook her head.

“Archie, let me tell you a secret.  When you want to sneak up on people, don't wear those cleats.  We could hear you coming a mile away...  I know, I know.  I'm sorry.  But you've got to admit, it was pretty realistic, right?”

“Too damn right it was, ya had me fooled.”, the scout admitted before turning to his friend, stripping down to his boxer shorts as he spoke.  “Would ya ever consider doin' Gabriel, like, fo'real?”

“Mmno.”, Sam said, heaving a yawn as she stretched.  “He's hot, but he's too kinky for my tastes.  Told me he keeps his gas mask on during – he likes the way it distorts his perceptions, he says.  There's kinky, and then there's over the top, and shit like that is just plain wrong.”  She then smiled.  “Would you ever do him?”

“Not in a million years, the guy's ancient compared to me!”, Archie replied, shaking his head.  “B'sides, he has Billy to keep him company, an' Billy's a jealous li'l ass.”  The scout then yawned, stretching.  “Anyway, let's jus' get to sleep, allright?”

“Okay.  ...Archie?”, she asked as the two of them settled into their beds, causing the scout to turn to her once more.

“Yeah?”

“You're not... mad at me, right?  For playing that trick on you?”

“Hell no...  I'm jus' glad ya didn't really do the dude.”, Archie replied, and as her eyes closed, Sam found herself thinking again on the other pyro's words regarding Archie's lust for her.  '...Gabe was just pulling my leg there... right?'


	7. That hot chick

The next week, Sam didn't have much time to ponder anything as the battles were fiercer than before.  The RED and BLU teams seemingly redoubled their efforts to prove victorious in the end, and the result was that she was dead tired in the evening, lacking the energy to do anything else but cook, eat and then go to sleep.  Archie and she did talk, but due to the intensity of their battles, the both of them were always tired in the evening and always busy in the morning.

However, on Thursday evening, when Sam was getting ready for bed, she heard Archies mobile phone ring – it had an absolutely horrible ringtone, she found – and she clicked it open hesitantly.

“Uh... A-archie Jessup's cellphone...”, she said softly, and the voice on the other side was rough like Archie's, though a bit deeper.

“Hiya...  Who's this Imma speakin' to?”

“Sam.  I'm the pyrotechnician on Archie's team.  Y-you must be one of Archie's brothers, right?”, she asked, and the man on the other side chuckled.

“Yeah, I'm Stephen Jessup, dipshit's brotha.  ...Anyway, I take it he ain't around now.  Tell him I called an' ask him to call back soon as he can.  Nuthin' serious, just to catch up...  Sooo... you that hot chick he's been talkin' about last week, huh?”

“I... suppose I am...”, Sam responded, sounding bashful – she had no idea Archie had told his brother about her.  Stephen seemed to guess her thoughts, for he chuckled again.

“Don' be bashful, cutie, no mattah how it suits ya.  Ya really should be flattered, I s'pose.  He don' talk about any of his fellah mercs 'cept for the spy and the medic – an' from the sound of it, both-a-them are sick fuckahs.  You actually the first one he described as 'nice' an' shit...  He nevah called you 'hot', but I'm his brotha, I can tell when he's hot for anyone.  ...Anyway, tell the li'l shit I called an' be sure ta tell him ta call back, mmkay?”

“Uh, okay...”, Sam said, grinning, and Stephen spoke up again.

“Awright then!  Hope we can talk again, cutie, ya really do sound nice 'n shit, he sure as hell was tellin' the truth...  Bye!”  The line went dead then, and Sam shook her head.  '…Archie's brother sounds just like him... obnoxious, foul-mouthed and somehow sweet...  Heh, I wonder what his mom's like, having to live with seven sons like that – well, maybe they're not all like Archie, but still...'  Her thoughts were interrupted by Archie entering the room, wearing only boxers and having his towel slung over his shoulder – obviously the scout had been in the shower.

“Ah, yo, Sam!  Didn't think you'd still be awake...”

“I, uh...  Your brother called, and I picked up.”, she said with a smile.  “Are all your brothers like you?”

“Who called?”, the scout asked, and Sam smiled.

“Stephen.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot Steve was s'posed to call!  Hey, he didn't bad-mouth me, did he?”, Archie asked, suddenly turning anxious, and Sam chuckled.

“No... actually, he told me you'd been telling him about me.  He was nice.  I think he called me 'hot' once or twice, and he said he hoped he could talk to me again.  ...How old was he again?”, the pyro asked with a teasing smile, causing Archie to blush.

“I'll kick his ass next time I see that dipshit!  Callin' you hot, where's he gettin' tha nerve...  He ain't never even seen ya!”

“Guess those were some pretty good stories you told them, then...”, Sam said with a smile, and Archie chuckled.

“Ah well, coulda been worse.  You coulda gotten my mom on the phone, she woulda gone all Judy Garland on ya – an' then she woulda asked me to invite you over for our next family dinner.  She'd be all bubbly an' stuff about it, too.  'Aw, hunnie, I didn't know you had a girlfriend!'”, he mimicked his mother, and Sam doubled over laughing as she heard a fine impression of the tone of motherly worry in his voice.

“Aaahahahaha...  Archie, you know how you'd react...  'Aw, shit, mom, she ain't my girlfriend, thanks for ruinin' mah chances, though...'”  Her imitation of him caused Archie to laugh along with her.

“Too damn right that's what I would tell her... she ain't got no right thinkin' that.  ...My motha's not that bad, though...  But my oldest brothas, Pete and Ricky... man, they'd go haywire an' think I finally was gettin' tired of livin' life fast an' shit.  They're both family men, ya know.  Pete's thirty-one now, he's got five kids an' a real ugly wife called Celeste.  He don't approve of my lifestyle much – thinks it's wrong of me to, ya know, cheer for both teams an' all.  Rick's got a less big stick up his ass, but still... he's thirty, has an ex, a second wife an' three kids.  He don't outright dislike how my life turned out, but he makes, like, snide comments whenever we have dinner togetha.”

“Sounds like a colourful family...”, Sam said, and Archie wanted to comment on the fact when Sam's own cellphone started ringing.  Sam apologised under her breath before answering.  “Hello...  Oh, Damien!!”  She held her cellphone against her hand for a while.  “You mind if I go outside for a bit?”, she said, and Archie shrugged.  However, as the pyro closed the door behind her, he walked over silently, pressing his ear against the keyhole to listen in.  Her cheery greeting had somehow made him feel jealous of this Damien...  Luckily, she hadn't wandered off into the hallway – he could still hear her voice clearly. “Oh my god, thank you so much for finally calling...  I've missed you so damn much, you idiot!  So how's things?  ...mmhmm...  I see.  No, let's not talk about them right now.  Yeah...  Oh, the job's great!  I try to be efficient but that big flamethrower's just so sloppy.  No, I do not like setting people on fire, but it's my job now, isn't it?  ...Yeah, the others are nice.  ...Damien, how'd you-  Okay, fine...  I'm bunking with their scout, and he's a good guy.  Yeah, he is.  Oh my god, Damien, what makes you even suggest...!  ...hotter'n you could imagine, Damien...  I will not!  Didn't I tell you he's a good guy?  That'd just be wrong.  ...I know.  I think he does, too, but let's just see where this gets me, okay?  If it happens, it happens.  ...Yes, you're allowed to come by in the second week.  If doc Harvey approves, then I approve.  I'll be looking forward to your visit then!  ...yeah, bye...  Love you, too, Damien...”  Archie's heart gave a painful squeeze when she told the mystery caller she loved him, but the next thing he knew, Sam moved again, and he dashed back to his bed just in time.

“So, who was the mystery admirah?”, he asked airily, and Sam smiled.

“That was my older brother Damien.  He's the one that represented me in my trials, and he's the one that made sure I got my job here.  I haven't seen him in over a month... man, it was so nice to hear his voice again!”  She giggled slightly, flopping down onto her bed.  “I sound silly, don't I?”

“Nah, ya don't.  I understand tha feelin'.  Man, I didn't speak to Dave or Sher for over six months now!  ...Trouble with six brothas is that none of 'em feel the need to call their runty li'l brotha as much as the rest-a-tha pack.  So, how was things?”

“Asked how the job went.  Wanted to talk about my mum and dad, but I said I didn't want to.  As far as I'm concerned, they're strangers now.  If I ever were to meet them on the street again, I'd say a friendly hello, but nothing more.”

“...And ya'd be damn right...”, Archie admitted before chuckling.  “Ya did sound real close to ya brotha...  Man, I wish I was close ta one'a my brothas like that...”

“I don't know, you and your brother Stephen seem almost as close...”, Sam said with a smile, and Archie found himself grinning as well.

“Yeah, maybe...  I'll jus' call Steve now, see why he called...”  He picked up his cellphone and walked out, leaving Sam to get into her bed, falling asleep thinking of how Archie's brother had said Archie might find her 'hot'...

 

That Saturday, Sam woke up to find a thunderstorm in progress outside – she felt slightly bummed as she got dressed, taking care not to wake Archie up.  '...This looks like a bad day...', she mused, biting back an anxious gasp as thunder rolled outside, sounding as if lightning had struck right next to her.  Then, just as she walked to the door, a flash of lightning and a thunderclap like a crashing building caused her to freeze – and she saw Archie look at her in confusion.

“Sam... whassa matter?”, the scout asked, looking from her to the window before laughing.  “Ya don't say, you afraid of lightnin'?!”

“Frightened like a little girl...”, she admitted, looking anxiously at the window, her body tense as she waited for the next flash of lightning – Archie got up from bed, walking up to her and looping an arm around her shoulders carefully, guiding her to the edge of her bed.

“Ya know what my motha always used to do when I was a little squirt an' still afraid of stuff like this?  She'd tell me ta sit on my bed an' count my baseball cards.  Man, I knew exactly how many I had, but jus' the countin' calmed me down.  In the end, I wasn't afraid no more, 'cause whenevah a thunderstorm hit, I just started countin' my baseball cards in my mind.  Try it...”

“Uh...”

“Tell me about ya trainin' in pyrotechnics...”, Archie suggested, and Sam smiled.

“It involved chemistry – how to blend potassium perchlorite and sodium permanganate together for bright flashes and high flames – and lots of safety training.  We spent half a year learning how to recognise flammable from non-flammable materials, and another half a year learning how to treat burns –not a superfluous training in my field of business, I can tell you.  We made our own flare-guns from scrap metal, empty shotgun shells, black powder, sodium benzoate and nitric acid.  The trick is to keep the flare from exploding when you fire it.  I helped do the pyrotechnics for the New Year's Rave in Melbourne last year – oh, lord, you cannot believe how many hours of labour went into some comets that wowed the crowd for, like, five minutes...  I burnt my fingers so many times I have no more ridges on my fingers.  My fingers are smooth at the tips... but the rest is kinda rough from grinding my own black powder together.  You see, everyone that makes gunpowder has their own mixture – it's kind of like a fingerprint in a way.  You know the composition of the black powder and you know who made it.  ...Uh...”, she the said hesitantly as Archie grinned, motioning for the window that displayed a bright and sunny day.  “Oh, wow!”, the pyro said, smiling.

“See?  I toldya it'd work, didn't I?  ...Ya can thank my motha for that.”

“I'll be sure to thank her extensively if I ever see her...”, she said with a shy smile, causing the scout to blush as well – somehow the possibility of Sam meeting his mother made him feel elated – and then the two rose from the bed's edge again, walking to the breakfast room together.

 

That evening, after their dinner, the group sat down for their usual evening of relaxation in the crowded bar.  Arsène ended up sitting next to Sam in the game of poker while Archie and the RED scout played pool.  The spy hadn't spoken to Sam much in the previous weeks, but when he'd suddenly remembered the pyro would leave that weekend for her surgery, he'd carefully chosen his seat so they'd end up side by side as soon as the medic excused himself from the table to go talk to the other medic, which happened after only three hands.

“So, Sam, 'ow goez eet with you?”, Arsène asked as Yaroslav dealt the cards, and the pyro smiled his way as she responded.

“Okay, I guess.  A bit nervous for the weeks to come, but I'll do okay, I guess.”  She looked at her cards and grinned.  “I'll follow you.  ...Why the sudden interest?”

“Oh, just curiosité, leetle firebug...”, he said, grinning as Yaroslav folded, Tavish following his example.  “Archie does not tell me much about you...”

“He's a great guy, Archie...”, Sam admitted, and the spy threw a ten dollar note onto the table, causing her to follow his example.  “But if you want to know anything about me, you can just ask.  Not now, though, we're in the middle of a rowdy bar.  ...Want to head over there after this game?”, the pyro then asked, pointing out a secluded table by the pool table, and the spy nodded.

“Dis should be over in anuzzer minute...  Dell, show us your 'and!”

“I got three of a kind here, Arsine...”, the Texan said, and the spy groaned.

“Well, dere goes my 'and... Sam, what 'ave you got?”

“I've got three of a kind as well... only one up!  Hoo yeah, gimme gimme gimme!”, the pyro said with a grin – the engineer had raised three times, and each time he'd looked more and more pleased – before handing three of the ten dollar notes back to the engineer.  “Dell, treat the guys to a drink on me – tell them it's from you, okay?”

“Why, thanks a bundle, Sammy boy!”, the engineer replied, grinning from ear to ear as he walked over to the bar to order the round while Arsène and Sam walked over to the table the pyro had indicated before.  As soon as they sat down, Arsène leaned against the pyro to whisper into her ear.

“I theenk you should know dat Archie cares for you, leetle firebug.  'E wants to see you 'appy.  I try not to worry for 'im, but I cannot 'elp it.  Be gentille wiz 'im, alright?”

“Uh... what do you mean?”, Sam asked, nonplussed, before answering.  “Arsène, if you're implying I'd hurt him in any way, you should know better.  He's close to me, and I care for him just as much as he cares for me.  He's told me that my parents could go to hell, that I'd always have you guys – that I'd always have him.  That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me, including my own brother.  I care for Archie because of that.  He makes me feel... right somehow... if that makes any sense at all.”

“Eet does, even if eet does not to you.  Ma petite, all I ask ees to make 'im 'appy.”

“I want to make him happy, Arsène.  I want that so very much... I get the feeling he was screwed by life in many ways, and I want to make that right again.  I'd do anything for him, he means that much.”

“Den you should not worry, leetle firebug, eef you want to make 'im 'appy, den you weel make 'im 'appy.  ...Now, let us go see where our leetle scout ees now...”

 

The next day, after dinner, the group was sitting together around the table talking merrily when the door opened and the Administrator-General came in, followed by a doctor.

“Sam?”, the doctor asked, and the pyro rose, smiling.

“Doc Harvey!  I've got my bag packed, I'll just go get it.”, she said before dashing off into the hallway, allowing the others to look at the doctor and the administrator in surprise.

“This is doctor Harvey, Sam's personal physician.  He has come to take our pyrotechnician for the reconstructive surgery that was planned.  Sam will return in two weeks – the revalidation will not take a month as first foreseen.”  When she meant to continue, Sam appeared in the doorway again, holding a blue duffel bag with a baseball pattern – she'd obviously borrowed it from Archie.

“I'm ready, doc.  ...You guys, hold the fort until I'm back.  Dell, keep them fed for me, okay?”

“Will do, Sammy!”, the engineer replied cheerily, allowing Sam to turn to the scout.

“Archie, bonk the REDs for me too the next two weeks.  I'll return brand new to you all.  Doctor Steinheim...”

“Wie versprochen...”, the German doctor said with a smile, and the pyro nodded before waving, following the doctor and the administrator outside while the rest of the group turned to their colleague.

“Doctah, what's he talkin' 'bout?”, Dell asked, and the medic sighed.

“Listen, everyone... Zam's reconstructive surgery iz to restore her body-”

“Wai'... her?”, the demolition expert said, and the table fell silent as the group looked to the medic in shock – all except Archie and Arsène, the medic noticed with a mental smile, knowing how the scout and spy were almost as close as the scout and the pyro.

“Yes... Zam stands for Zamantha, and she iz now going to haff her body restored to reverze zhe damage zhe fire haz done.  Zo she vill not look zhe same anymore when she returns... However, she haz asked me to tell you zat she vill still be zhe same pyro zat fought alongside you.  She vill look differently, but she vill not act differently.”

“Well, damn...”, Jane voiced the thoughts of everyone around the table, and as the group started discussing the new revelation, the medic noticed the scout rise from his seat and walk to the door.  He followed the youth, catching up to him in the hallway.

“Archie, iz zomething wrong?”, he asked almost fatherly, and the scout sighed.

“Doc Steinheim... ya have no idea how much I miss Sam already, an' she's only left, like, five minutes ago...”

“My dear Archie, I do haff some idea.  It vill be difficult in zhe next few weeks, but vhen Zam returns, you vill forget every hour you haff missed her.  ...She finds you attractive, and she iz clearly close to you.  If you feel zhe zame way, you should tell her.  You should perhaps call her in hospital or send her a card...”

“...Yeah!  Man, thanks, doc!”, the youth said – his word of thanks not sounding hurried like it did on the battlefield, but sincere and relieved, and Siegfried smiled.

“Vell, ve all hope she returns to us soon... not only because she makes zhe team complete, but she is a vonderful friend to us all... I can only hope she vaz afraid for nuzzing...”, he said enigmatically, and the scout shrugged.

“Whatevah she was afraid of, I'll keep her safe... I swear ta God...”


	8. Samantha

“So are you ready, Sam?”, Damien asked as he pulled up in front of the compound gates, and next to him, his sister nodded.

“Ready as I'll ever be!”  She grinned, but he had become a master of reading her after all those years, so he knew her grin was a way to hide how anxious she felt, and he reassured her.

“Those guys in there won't do anything out of the ordinary.  You're one of them, remember?”

“I know... still, it might come as a bit of a shock to them to suddenly see their pyrotechnician with a D-cup and a full head of hair if they're used to her having no front and no hair.  Ah, at least Archie and doctor Steinheim won't freak out...”, she sighed in the end, and her brother smiled.

“Archie's that scout you fawn over so much, right?  The one that called three times for three hours each and sent you a basket of energy drinks?”

“The one and only... Ah well, I'd best get going.  Not keeping the team waiting and such...  Damien, will you come visit base sometime?  There's a visitor's day two months away, at the end of the summer – Theo's mother always comes, he told me, and Archie's promised to invite his mother and some of his brothers... oh, and I can give you a tour!  And show you my gear...”

“It's a date then... Call me with the exact date as soon as you know, and I'll be glad to come.  ...Will you be okay carrying all that?”, he asked when he saw her carry her duffel bag as well as a heavy suitcase, but she nodded.

“Not the heaviest I've ever lifted...  Thanks for the new wardrobe, I love every single piece of clothing!”, she added with a smile, and he raised an eyebrow.

“Even the pleated skirt and the horrendous frilly blouse?”

“Especially the pleated skirt and the horrendously frilly blouse.  In fact, I love them so much I'll do my best to keep them in perfect condition...”, she answered with a playful wink, and Damien nodded, waving as she walked off into the compound toward the blue door on the far end.  'Sam... good luck with your team...', he mused as he got back into the car, driving off.

 

“...Son, you okay?”, Dell asked the scout who sat on the sofa, watching a cartoon uninterestedly and generally being despondent – Archie looked up, seemingly startled out of his trance, and shrugged.

“Just watchin' this crap.  Dude, you cannot believe how anxious I feel...”  Dell nodded, smiling – at first, only the spy and the medic had known about the scout's interest in their absent pyro, but soon his growing gloom alerted everyone, even the usually aloof sniper.  Everyone felt sympathetic with Archie's plight – and they'd done their best to keep the scout's morale up.  However, that evening, no one had had much success.

“Don' worry, son, she'll be back soon an' then ya can-”  His voice died away when the door opened and the medic came in, looking dazed.  “Siegfried, whassamatter?”, he asked, sounding worried, and the medic stammered a reply.

“I...  In the hallway...”  Archie got up, walking briskly past the medic into the hallway, heading to his room – when he found the door slightly ajar and the lights on inside, he knew immediately Sam had returned, and after taking a deep breath to steady himself, he opened the door.

“Sam?”, he said softly, and there she stood, dressed in a simple black blouse and jeans, wearing sneakers, a stack of panties in her hands.

“Archie!”, she said brightly, smiling – and the scout immediately forgot how gloomy and depressed he'd been for two weeks as she threw her arms around him, giving him a warm hug that also made the results of her surgery very much obvious.  He blushed deeply feeling her breasts pressed firmly against him – and then she let go, blushing as well.  “Sorry... I kind of forget that I'm not supposed to do that.  Uh, yeah, so I missed you.  Thanks for the telephone calls and the basket of Bonk, you made my brother think it was some sexual innuendo before he realised that's an actual energy drink.”

“Ya brotha, ain't he the one that yelled at me for keepin' you up that one day?”

“He calmed down considerably when he had a can of Bonk and realised no one can sleep with a sugar rush that intense.”, Sam said, taking several T-shirts out of her bag as Archie went to sit on her bed.  “So, how has the team been in my absence?”

“We got our asses handed ta us by RED more, for one...”, the scout answered with a crooked grin, and Sam chuckled.

“I'll tell them off tomorrow...”, she said before stretching – drawing Archie's attention to her new curves so effectively the scout was happy to be sitting down so she wouldn't see what effect it had on him.  He then chuckled.

“Yeah, well, they'll be shocked by you as it is.  Man, Sam, those doctors made you hotter 'n hell!”

“I'm no supermodel, Arch, but thanks for the compliment.”, she answered, and Archie rolled his eyes.

“What kinda man would ever wanna have a supermodel when there's hot numbahs like you walkin' 'round?!  ...Man, when the others see you, they're gonna blow their tops...”, he said, and Sam blushed violently.

“...I'd rather see them in the morning, okay?  I...”

“You afraid of what they're gonna say when they see you an' you're not like ya used ta be?”, Archie asked, and Sam shrugged.

“I...  Archie, I'm a woman.  There's seventeen men in this compound.  I'm afraid they'll...  well... you know...”, she stammered shyly, and Archie suddenly caught on, his mind protesting vehemently at the thought that anyone else could look at Sam the same way he did.  He shook his head violently and gritted his teeth.

“If any one of 'em so much as looks atcha in a funny way, Imma beat their ass around town with a board littered with rusty nails!”, he ground out, and Sam smiled broadly.

“...Thanks...  Damien says I'm silly to worry, but...  Christ, I feel sick with worry.  But with you on my side, I think I'll manage to keep my dignity intact.  ...Uh, now comes the first really awkward part...”, she said, holding up her pyjamas – the ridiculously flowered nightgown – and Archie blushed.

“I'll just look that-a-way...”, he said hastily, and Sam smiled shyly.

“Thanks...”  He heard her unzip her jeans and take off her blouse, and he heard her put on the nightgown – when he turned back around, she had sat down on the side of her bed shyly.  “Archie, please, if I'm making you uncomfortable...”, she said, looking at her feet, and the scout was next to her in one bound, shaking his head fiercely.

“Nah, you're not makin' me uncomfortable – it's just... aw, jeez, do I really haveta say it?  You're hotta than a blazin' fiyah, Sam, an' if I look atcha when you're naked, I'm afraid I...  it's jus' that I can't help...  I mean, I'm just a man, too...  I don't wanna make you feel uncomfortable...”, he said, and Sam smiled.

“Archie, if I was a man, would I turn you on as well?”

“Uh...  Well...”, the scout stammered, remembering how sharing his room with her before had made him feel hot even before he knew she was a woman, and he sighed.  “There's no winnin' this battle, is there?”

“I'm afraid not.  But I don't really mind.  I mean, I'd be turned on by me if I was a man too...”

“Oh, ya would, would ya?”, Archie said, lightly knocking her on the head with his knuckles, and the pyro laughed softly before yawning again.  “...yeah, you just go sleep, Sam.  We can deal with 'em in the mornin'...”, the scout said softly when his friend scooted underneath the bedsheets, nodding off almost instantly after she'd closed her eyes.  He walked to his own bed, putting on his pyjamas and laying back above the covers, his arms folded underneath his head, staring at the ceiling.  'Aw shit, Sam, how can I ever tell ya that all I wanna do is jump an' ravish you?'

 

The next morning, Sam woke up early, getting dressed quickly and quietly so as to not wake up Archie before taking the final few things out of her suitcase.  They were three posters Damien had bought her to brighten her room.  The first one of them was a large blown-up picture of her at age twenty, hands in bandages and hair cut to spikes on top of her head after a fail-grade in her first fire safety exam though she was still grinning at the camera.  The second was a poster for the New Year's Rave of Melbourne she'd done the pyrotechnics for with her previous employer, Katchan Fire Inc.: it showed her pride and joy, the comets, rising above the stage in all their majesty – it still made her proud to see her work preserved like that.  The third one was a promotional poster Damien had brought her from his business trip on his first visit: it displayed a fireburst array of fireworks against a night sky, underneath which stood 'Visit Boston, it's a blast!'.  She put them up quickly, watching her friend stir in his bed, sighing in his sleep.  'He looks so peaceful...', the pyro mused as she pushed the final thumbtack into the wall, grinning.

“...Hey, that's actually a nice poster-a Boston...”, came a sleepy voice behind her, and she turned to find Archie get up from his bed, the covers carelessly tossed back.  He'd apparently removed his pyjama shirt in the night, Sam noticed with a grin.

“What's special about Boston?”, she asked, and Archie grinned as well.

“Ya kiddin' me?  I grew up there!  Downtown, a'course, but I ain't nevah minded that.  ...Wow, nice skirt!”, he said, noticing that his friend had changed her jeans for a bright red skirt coming below her knees, flaring out slightly as she did a turn for him.

“Glad you like it – it's not, uh, going to drive that lot out of their mind, is it?”

“...There might be a black eye or two more by the end of tha evenin'...”, Archie said gruffly, and Sam smiled.

“Well, we can’t have you knocking out teeth and blacking eyes by yourself, can we?  I'll help out.  The first one to look at me funnily is going to get toasted like a steak on a barbecue!  ...Thanks, Archie, you always do make me feel better...”, the pyro said, turning around with a smile when Archie raised an eyebrow – she knew he felt a bit awkward undressing in front of her, and she could understand it would be odd for him to be casual when it was more than a bit obvious that he was affected by her.  'Truth is, I kind of like having that effect on him...', she mused – when she felt Archie tap her on the shoulder, she turned around, surprised to find him fully dressed in a tight sleeveless shirt and baggy shorts, his usual shoes underneath them.

“So, ya ready to face our band-a-misfits?”, he asked, and Sam nodded, suddenly feeling faint.  However, when Archie looped an arm around her shoulders, she sighed, and the scout spoke up again.  “Ya really don't need to be afraid-a them.  They'll either say 'ah, hiya Sam!' and go about their merry business, or they'll drop in a faint ‘cause all tha blood in their bodies is in their dicks!”

“...Let's just get this over with...”, the pyro spoke, and together, the two of them walked to the breakfast room.  Archie entered first, pulling Sam along – and the room fell quiet just as it had when she'd entered five weeks before.  She looked around nervously – there were a few mixed reactions, especially from Theo and Arsène, but other than that, the reaction of the engineer a second later summed the group's thoughts up correctly.

“Heya, Sam, so nice to have ya back now!  ...Still like them pancakes with syrup?”  Everyone visibly relaxed, and Sam chuckled, finding the return to routine reassuring.

“You bet I do, Dell!  So, I want to hear everything about the battles, and your crazy weekends – spare no details!”  Laughing, the group went to sit around the table, enjoying their breakfast and a leisurely conversation on a Saturday morning.

 

“Oh holy fuckin' 'ell, how'd you BLU wankahs end up with such a stunnah an' we end up with nutty-as-a-squirrel Gabe?!”, Chris – the RED sniper – shouted out that evening, when the two teams joined up to get dinner and hang out in the dusty town.  Archie grinned as he answered the tall Australian with his usual spite.

“Ya jus' suck, that's tha reason.  Now stop undressin' my friend with your eyes, ya Aussie shit, or I'll kick yo ass to the compound an' back – only one that gets ta do that's tha one she chooses!”  Chris raised his hands and grinned at Sam.

“Your little friend's a bit twitchy – you must be some fuck to get 'im over 'is little boyfriend.”  Then, he turned to Archie with an even more devious grin.  “Ya lucky little piss, bettah keep 'er close – she's a keepah...”  Archie blushed – he'd known his team knew about his feelings to some extent, but the REDs weren't supposed to have caught on.  However, before Chris could start laughing, Sam intervened.

“Chris, I'll put it in your own language so you'll understand: piss off, wankah, an' go fuck yourself in the bum afore some other buggah does it for you.”  Her horribly accurate Australian imitation, delivered with a lazy grin, caused the sniper to shut up and the others, both RED and BLU, to laugh – Chris joined the laughter after a moment of shocked silence, clapping Sam on the back.

“See, that's what those wankahs of your team had teh miss when you were bein' fixed... only you and Gabe have that wondahful sahcasm...”

“Speaking of sarcasm... Sammy, hun, how've ya been?!”, came an excited shout moments before the RED pyro lifted Sam off her feet in a bear hug.  After Gabriel put her down, he grinned at the others.  “Hell yeah, she's got a front like an airbag!”  He got a mean hit from Archie for that, and Sam rolled her eyes.

“Thanks for the comparison – but I thought exhaust pipes were more up your alley.”, she said, and the other pyro roared with laughter as the group settled down for dinner, discussing their battles and other news while they ate – after their food was cleared off, the usual games of cards were played.  Sam found herself sitting next to Gabe after a short while, and the other pyro bought her a few shots of brandy, getting her tipsy faster than she regularly did.

“...Izzit normal for me to not be able to tell my cards 'part, Dante?”, Sam slurred during their tenth round, and the other pyro shrugged.

“Jus' fold, Sammy... I know sumthin' else we could do.”  He whispered something in her ear, causing her to grin, blushing softly.

“...Mmkay...”, she said slowly, tossing down her cards.  She then turned to Jane – the soldier sat by her other side, occasionally looking at her instead of his cards which had cost him a good hundred dollars already.  “Jane, here's a ten... buy Archie a shot of rum from me an' get something for yourself too, kay?  Gabe'll make sure I get home safely...”  The two pyros then got up, walking out of the bar.


	9. Hurting even more

Archie staggered back to his room an hour later, having tired of his game of pinball – the rum shot Sam had bought for him had triggered Dell, Yaroslav, Jane, Billy and Pierre to throw rounds of the stuff around as well, and he was tipsy.  'Oh, man, I hope Sam's already asleep... couldn't stand to wake her...', he thought.  However, when he arrived at his room he found the door ajar, giving him a clear view of Sam's bed – and of a completely naked Sam, straddling an equally naked Gabriel, the RED pyro having a tight grip on her hips as she rose and fell in a steady rhythm.  Archie's mouth went dry, and he was sober in a heartbeat.  There was the woman he loved, giving herself to someone else – it was heartbreaking for him to see.  Her gasps of extacy brought tears to his eyes, and the scout ran until he ended up outside again, feeling hurt, confused and aroused despite everything – and it was pure luck that caused him to run into Arsène.

“Archie?  What ees zee matter?”, he asked, seeing his friend and occasional lover in tears.  Archie shook his head.

“Sam, she...  Gabe...”, he stammered, and Arsène cursed.

“Mille tonnère, I should 'ave know!  ...Archie, she does not sink clearly at zee moment, 'e 'as been buyink 'er drinks all evenink... she is drunk, and she does not realise-”

“But she...  She's enjoyin' him!  Him!  That sick fuck!  ...Imma gonna fuck him up so badly his own motha ain't gonna recognise him no more...”, the scout said between clenched teeth, and Arsène shook his head.

“Archie... in zee mornink, she will regret everysink she ees doink right now.  She may not even remember eet.  She may even sink eet was you... she may even be sinkink dat right now...  She 'ad enough drinks to 'ave her sleep wiz her own bruzzer now.”  The scout shivered in disgust, but he relaxed, and the spy suddenly got an idea.  “Per'aps zee best course of action ees to arouse zee jalousie wiz 'er.  Come sleep een my room tonight – Theo 'as gone off with a girl from zee bar, 'e will not be back for some time.  In zee mornink, tell 'er you were wiz me and see 'ow she reacts...”

“Okay...  Uh, I don't have no pyjamas though, they're in there with them...”, Archie said in disgust, though he sounded less irate now, and Arsène chuckled.

“All zee better – den you can tell 'er you did not require dem...”

“Uh, 'bout that...  I kinda, uh...”, Archie started, and the spy rolled his eyes, realising how the scout's tension had been turned into sexual frustration somehow, and nodded.

“If you can manage before Theo returns to our room... We could 'ave a bit of entertainment...”

 

Sam woke up with a pounding headache the next morning, turning around to find Gabe's naked, sleeping form next to her – startling her so much she screeched, pushing him out of her bed.  The other pyro woke up with a start, cursing.

“The hell...!  Sam, what're you doin'?!”

“Gabe, what the hell are you doing in my bed?!”, she asked, and the pyro raised an eyebrow sceptically.

“Whaddaya think?  Don't you even remember last night?  My god, Sam, hun, you took me to heaven, you did!”  The lewd grin and the way his eyes wandered her body suddenly made her feel dirty – and before she knew it, she had picked up the closest thing – her flaregun – and started whacking Gabe up the head with it.  “Ouch!  Hey – ow! - what're ya doin'?  You wanted it too, didn'tcha?”

“You got me drunk, you sick bastard, just so you could have your way with me!”, she shouted, pummeling away with the gun's wooden handle, knocking the pyro around as he gathered his clothes from around the room hurriedly before scurrying out the door – as soon as he was gone, Sam sagged to the floor, shivering.  'H-he was right, I wanted it too, but... why do I feel so dirty?'

The door opened again then, and the thought it could be Gabe again caused Sam to throw her bedsheet around herself before picking up Archie's 'Sandman' baseball bat from against the scout's bed. “Dantan, gods help me, I'll-”  However, it was Archie who entered, and the scout looked at her in surprise before walking over to his bed.  He still wore the same clothes he wore the day before.

“D'you mind if I just change here?  I slept with Arsène last night, so...”  His voice was filled with spite and bitterness, and the pyro then knew why she felt so dirty.  ‘I…  Shit…’

“...I'll just go shower then...”, Sam said, her voice oddly small and her eyes cast down as she dropped the baseball bat and walked out of the room, still dressed in the sheet.  The scout groaned, sagging onto his bed.

“Shit... I feel bad doin' this...”, he whispered, looking at the door Sam had walked through and then looking back at her bed, shivering.  “I wonder why she was shoutin' when I came in?”

 

“Archie, haff you seen Zamantha?  I need to do zhe follow-up exam for her Progyna...”, doctor Steinheim asked when he encountered the scout in the hallway after breakfast – and to his surprise, Archie merely shrugged.

“I dunno where she is, doc.  Last I saw her, she said she was gonna take a shower.”  The sudden coolness in his voice somehow worried the medic, and he walked off to the door where the new bathroom was.

“Zamantha?  It is doktor Steinheim...  Did you forget our appointment?”, he called, but got no answer – causing him to become worried.  He tested the door – and to his surprise, it was open, allowing him to enter the showers where he found Sam sitting on the floor, her knees clutched to her chest and her eyes red from crying.  Red patches on her skin showed she'd been rough with herself.  The doctor walked up to her immediately, kneeling down beside her – his clothes were getting soaked by the water, but he didn't mind.  “Zamantha, what iz zhe matter?  First Archie acts as though he does not care vhere you are, and now I find you zitting here crying...”

“Oh, doctor...  I...  I washed myself so many times, and I still feel so d-dirty...”, the pyro stammered before burying her head into his shirt and crying – he responded by patting her on the head, allowing her to shed her tears before looking down at her.

“You look like a frightened lizzle lamb, Zamantha...  Tell me vot has happened.”  And as the pyro told her story, the medic found himself growing more and more sympathetic to her.  It also explained the scout's coldness toward her to some extent – he knew the spy would probably know more, as the two were close friends, and resolved to question Arsène later.  “...Do you feel guilty?”

“So very, very much...  Doctor Steinheim, I feel...  I threw up twice.  It was all just gall and stomach acid, but it came out in waves.  Even my body is disgusted with me.  I wish I could just curl up in a corner and die quietly.  I hurt Archie, I gave in to the first man that tried – even if it was Gabriel, I betrayed myself and everything I wanted to maintain.  I gave up myself to the first shithead that got me drunk, what the fuck is wrong with me!  What the FUCK is WRONG with me!!”, she screamed in the showers, her voice echoing off the walls and probably into the hallways beyond the door, causing the doctor to wince.

“Zam... sings like zhis happen... it may not haff been your finezt hour, but at least Gabriel did not hurt you... at least he did not do more zhen dent your dignity...”  The pyro slowly got up, standing on her legs shakily, and it was then that the doctor discovered she had no clothes with her, only a dirty bed sheet.  “...Wait here, Zam... I'll go to your room to get you a change of clothes...”

“...I don't want Archie to see me like this, he probably hates me...”, the pyro admitted, shivering as she held back tears, and the medic sighed.

“I can keep you in zhe medical bay today...  But you vill haff to speak to him later.”  Sam nodded, sobbing softly, and the doctor took a step back.  “I'll get you some clothes now.  I vill only be five minutes.”

 

Meanwhile, Archie sat on the edge of his bed, looking at Sam's bed again – his eyes wandering over to her side of the room for the millionth time since she'd left.  He felt empty and miserable on the inside, the feeling intensifying as he remembered how she had quietly left.  Just as he looked back out the window, the door opened and a soaking wet medic entered, his shirt plastered to his body and his pants clinging to his knees.

“Whoa, doc, what happened ta you?”, Archie said, sounding confused.  The medic looked at him with a raised eyebrow and shook his head.

“Ach, Archie, it iz Zam, she is not feeling vell...  She is very ill – mentally and physically – because of vot happened zis night.”

“Oh.”, Archie said, and the medic was relieved to hear a slightly worried note in between the coolness in the scout's voice.  However, the cold tone returned in his next words.  “Yeah, she should be.”

“Archie, she could uze a friend now-”, doctor Steinheim started, but his words fired Archie up.

“Well, she sure as hell didn't need me last night!  ...Tell her I'm goin' to the entertainment room, an' not to expect me back until tanight.”, he said gruffly, picking up his laptop and walking off, slamming the door behind him, leaving the medic standing shocked in the room.

 

Hours later, the scout walked back to his room after dinner – as Sam had been absent, due to an upset stomach as doctor Steinheim had explained to the group, Dell had cooked them some spicy chicken wings with tomato-and-pepper sauce – he was stopped by the engineer in the hallway.

“Hey, Arch, ya wouldn't happen ta know where Sam is, wouldya?  ...'Cause she ain't in the medical bay no more an' your room's empty...”

“Maybe she went over to RED compound...”, Archie said, his voice sounding bitter, but then he heard Yaroslav's cry.

“Doktor Steinheim!  Kvikly, Dell, leetle scout, call medic!  Leetle pyro is hurt!”

“What?!”, Archie said, worried despite how hurt and violated he still felt, and he ran over to the heavy weapons expert to see Sam lay in front of the door to the separate bathroom, her arms a bloody mess and her fireaxe in one hand.  She'd crumbled against the door, apparently – a large bloody smear ran over its surface.  “Oh my god...”, he whispered, walking over to the pyro in shock, picking her up and carrying her to the medical bay, meeting the doctor on the way there.

“Carry her in here, quickly!”, the medic said imperiously, motioning for Archie to follow him inside, which the scout did without hesitation, gently putting Sam's limp body onto the examination table so she could be healed.  “Let's first see how badly she has been damaged...”  The doctor took a wet rag, wiping her arms clean of dried blood, revealing...  “Herr Gott...”

“N-no...”, Archie gasped as he could read the words she'd carved in her arms.  “'Traitor', 'whore', 'fuck-up'... 'good-for-nothing'...”, he read out the words, shivering as though they were directed against him.  As the doctor cleaned the other arm, the scout felt faint.  There, in large, deep letters, stood the sentence 'die before you cause Archie more pain'.  He could only stare at it in shock when the wounds were thrown in grisly relief as the Medigun above the table fired up, starting the slow and painful healing process that fortunately would leave no scar or sign of the words.  Then, next thing he knew, the medic had picked him up by his shirt and slammed him into the wall.

“Archie, vot did you do?  I vont zhe entire tale – every vord, every sought, jedes verdammte detail!”  And Archie spoke, feeling sick to his stomach as he saw Sam's still form, finishing in tears.  “...I di-didn't want this ta ha-hap-happen, doc, I sw-swear ta G-G-God!!  I feel sorry I evah listened ta Arsaine!  I nevah wanted ta hurt her!  Nevah!  Ya gotta believe me, doc, please...  I just felt so betrayed... like she stabbed me in tha heart.”

“You, Archibald Jessup, are ein verdammter Arsch!”, the doctor said as he hit the scout squarely against the cheek with his opened hand, causing him to fall and hold his cheek with an expression of surprise.  However, the medic sighed, turning back to Sam to find her wounds gone and her breathing even.  “Yet zat is vot die liebe makes us.  She does not belong to you, Archie, and as long as she remains unavare of your feelings, she vill not know she hurts you vhen she is in zhe company of anozher man.  ...Gabriel got her drunk zo she vould be vulnerable, and she felt disgusted zis morning vhen she found him in her bed still.  She beat him up, chased him off and zen you came in, acting cold to her.  You vere not zere vhen she needed you most...  Vot do you sink zat did to her mind?”  Archie looked back at his friend and shivered, fully realising how cold he'd been to her – realising how he had been blind to how upset she was in the morning, realising how he'd ignored the medic's warning... realising how he'd only seen his own hurt and pain.  He walked up to Sam slowly, his heart aching, and brushed his hand over her cheek.

“Sam, I'm so sorry...  Gods, you don't even know half how sorry I am!  I'll make it up ta you, I swear!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In conjunction with this chapter, you should read the short story 'Heaven in her smile' - which you can find in the same collection as this story.


	10. Brutal and vindictive

Sam opened her eyes to find she was in her own room, in her bed.  Her arms, which were throbbing with pain and dripping blood last she remembered, felt smooth and pain-free, and the dizziness was gone completely.  However, the mental pain was still there, the numbing realisation she'd let Archie down, and she sighed shakily.

“Sam?”, came Archie's voice from next to her, and then the lights were on – the sudden change in brightness caused her to shield her eyes.  When she slowly moved her hand down, she saw her friend sitting next to her, looking at her intently.

“Archie?  Y-you look like hell...”, she said, avoiding his eyes, unable to bear the hurt she knew they'd hold, but her first glance had revealed dark ridges under his eyes from lack of sleep and red eyes – he'd probably cried, she guessed, which made her feel sick to her stomach.  “G-go to sleep...”

“Oh my god, Sam!”, the scout gasped, throwing his arms around her and hugging her so tightly she had trouble breathing properly – and when she felt his shoulders jerk slightly, she realised he was crying into her shoulder, causing her to shiver and cry as well.  “I-I thought yo-you were a goner...  D-do-don't you evah – EVAH! - do that again, ya hear?!”, he said in her shoulder, sounding relieved and irate at the same time, and Sam merely sobbed into his shoulder before he detached himself from her.  “I-I'm sorry I was so cold.  I'm sorry I slept with Arsaine again.  I'm so, so sorry...  I don't want to lose you!  Please, d-don't...”, Archie stammered, looking her in the eyes, and Sam sniffled before answering.

“I don't deserve your friendship, A-archie...  I don't...  I hate myself...  I hate that fucking asshole Gabe, I want to kill him.  I want to MURDER that asshole!  I...”

“You were drunk, an' who knows what kinda things he toldya to get ya ta let him do whatevah...”, the scout said soothingly before looking at her again.  “But no matta what – don't you evah believe I hate you.  I don't wanna lose you, Sam, you mean everythin' to me.”

“Archie...  I...”, the pyro stammered, trying to formulate a reply when her friend smiled at her shyly.

“Promise me ya'll nevah do anythin' like what you did tanight.”

“I promise...  Oh, Archie, I feel...  I didn't want to hurt you!!”, she said, tears welling up into her eyes again, only for Archie to brush them away almost tenderly.

“I know you didn't.  I promise I'll nevah listen to Arsaine again – dumb fuck don't know shit about women, he proved that allright...  I promise I'll be here for ya, Sam, whenevah ya need me – but don'tcha dare leave me!  I need you...”, the scout admitted, and Sam suddenly blushed – however, the next thing she knew, she had to repress a yawn that made her cheeks crack ominously, and the scout chuckled.  “Let's just get some sleep, it'll be an early day tomorrow... lots of Gabe-kickin' to do...”, he added with a resolved tone, and Sam found herself grinning as she fell asleep again.

 

The next day, when the horn sounded for battle, Sam and Archie stood side by side, and they exchanged a grim nod before setting off in different directions, Archie following the soldier and the demoman while Sam headed the opposite direction with the heavy weapons expert, the medic and the sniper.  They both moved with the single purpose of locating the RED pyro, however, and Sam was the first one to find him.  Seeing him, she removed her gas mask, shouting over the din of battle:

“Gabriel Dantan, I’m going to strangle you with your own entrails, you filthy shit!”  The other pyro turned to her and was too late in getting his fireaxe as she took out her own, bashing him on the head with it.  The RED soldier came around the corner, trying to help his teammate – but he went down with a startled cry as an arrow pierced him front-to-back, while Theo grinned satisfied.

“Mmmth!  Mmh Smmmh!  MMH SMMMH!”, Gabriel said through his mask, and Sam grinned as she knocked him down, sat down next to him, taking out her flaregun.  She pulled his gas mask off, revealing a pale face covered with sweat and eyes large in fright.  “I’m sorry, Sam, I’m sorry, I swear ta God I’m sorry, just don’t…”, he whispered, and Sam gritted her teeth, aiming the flaregun at his temple.

“Sorry isn’t going to return my dignity.  Cold-blooded murder, however, might…”  The RED spy appeared behind her, knife raised, but a baseball hit him squarely against the temple and the man fell down, knocked out cold.  Archie came skidding round the corner, slowing down when he saw Gabriel lying on the ground.  “Now, look, Archie… the trick is to make the flare so it doesn’t explode… not immediately, at least…”, the BLU pyro said with a diabolical grin on her face.

“M-merde... non, fait pas, Samantha, j'suis désolé, je t'avoue... non, fait pas, fait pas!”, Gabriel stammered in a high-pitched voice fraught with fear, and a large stain appeared in his flameproof suit.

“...Archie?”, Sam said with the same devilish grin as she nodded.  When Archie placed his foot on the RED pyro’s hand, he screamed in pain – and the flaregun was forced into his mouth when he did.  “Say goodnight, Gabe, and be glad we didn’t rip you limb from limb for your fucking antics…”, Sam ground out before pulling the trigger, splattering her counterpart’s brains over the ground below him.  Archie cursed as he looked at his shoes.

“Shit, more stains…  Still, that felt too damn good to be true.”, he admitted, helping Sam up, and the other pyro nodded, smiling.

“It doesn’t get me back my dignity, but at least he’ll think twice before pulling a stunt like that one…”  She then put on her gas mask again, taking her flamethrower from her back and firing up the pilot light.  “Nmmmh, mmths kmm kmmt dmm mmmths!”

 

The rest of the week went by without incident.  Gabriel didn’t come out of the RED command base that day – the rest of his team were slightly annoyed, but they understood – and when he did appear again the next day, he invariably ran back to his teammates whenever he caught sight of Archie or Sam.  The BLU pyro was feeling better ever since she’d exacted her revenge, however, and had told the others of her team that Gabe had been punished as far as she was concerned.  The only one that did not seem to give up was Archie, but no one commented on that as the scout had stuck to his friend continuously since her breakdown, even neglecting his daily dose of Army of Death 4 Ultimate extra violent edition. 

“…It just ain’t that fun ta play no more, really!”, he said when Dell asked him about it, a soft grin in place.  “Besides, I prefer talkin’ ta Sam.  Man, she’s got knowledge no one else has!  Dell, maybe she can even teach ya how to improve ya gunpowder!”

“…maybe, son.  But I prefer mah own methods, thanks verreh much.  …So whatcha two doin’ tonight?”, the engineer asked, just as Sam appeared from the kitchen, wiping her hands dry on a kitchen towel.

“Yeah, what are we going to do tonight?”, she asked, and Archie grinned.

“I got my hands on that one movie ya told me ‘bout the other night-“

“Oh my god, you’re kidding me?  You’ve found the unrated edition of ‘Indestructible’?!  …Oh, I’ve wanted to see that movie since forever.”

“But didn’tcha tell me you’s afraid of horror movies?”, Dell asked, and Sam nodded with a shy smile.

“I get terrible nightmares from them.  But as long as I sit through the entire film, it’ll all be okay…”  She then dashed back into the kitchen, re-emerging carrying sodas, popcorn, energy drinks, chocolate and candy.  “You ready?  Dibs on the TV!!”, the pyro shouted, dropping herself on the couch, and Archie followed suit, the engineer shaking his head as he sat down at the table.  ‘Youngsters these days…’, he mused, watching the movie unfold.  ‘But why’d Archie suggest ta-  Ah!’  He’d been musing why their scout had suggested a horror movie until one of the horror scenes came on the screen and the pyro gasped, turning away from the screen and hiding against Archie’s shoulder.  The scout grinned lazily when she did so, and chuckled softly as she muttered an apology.  ‘Hah, inventive kid, that’s fer sure!’, the engineer thought with a grin, picking up his book and moving away to his room.

 

That Saturday, the BLU and RED teams met again for their leisurely evening in the town – however, there was one man that kept to himself, feverishly checking around him.

“What’s up with Gabe?”, Jane asked his RED colleague John, and the other soldier grumbled.

“He’s turned loopy when your scout and pyro pulled their little stunt – swore to our medic he still feels the burn of that flare in the back of his head…  Still, got what he deserved.”

“Yeah…”, Jane agreed, chuckling when Gabe noticed Archie and Sam at the other side of the group and ducked behind a corner.

Meanwhile, Sam and Archie had noticed the other pyro’s behavior as well, and they were talking to the RED scout.

“Yeah, Gabe’s gone funny after you did that.  Also, Archie, Pierre had a choice few words ta say about you knockin’ him out, he’s still got a bruise ta show for it.”

“Yeah, he can go to my mom an’ have her kiss it all bettah…”, the scout suggested with a tone of annoyance, and Billy laughed loudly.

“Oh yeah, keep forgettin’ that Pierre’s doin’ your mom… in a good and totally not unrespectful way, bro…”, the other scout added when Archie looked at him scathingly, but then he loosened up again when both Archie and Sam sniggered.

“The look on ya face, man, Billy, it was priceless!  …But whatcha think, Billy, too harsh?”, Archie asked, and the other scout turned to the pyro.

“Nevah harsh enough, Sam.  Ya shoulda told me ‘bout it, and I’da ripped the sonuvabitch ’is balls off!”

“He might need those to make it up to you, though…”, Sam said with a grin, and Billy rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

“I told him he could pack it up an’ go to someone who wouldn’t mind bein’ double-crossed all tha time.  He promised me he wouldn’t go for anyone else, an’ then he does that…”  When Sam looked shocked, he patted her on the shoulder.  “Hey, it ain’t your fault, Sam, but his.  Just goes ta show how badly he fucked up, huh?  …Just let him stew.  He’ll come ‘pologise when he’s done feelin’ like shit.  …Now, why ain’t we havin’ dinnah?  Have ya tried the chilli stew with sweet potatoes?”


	11. When it happens, it happens

After dinner, Archie walked off to play pool against Billy, and Sam meant to follow them, but Jane and Dell pulled her with them to their usual table to play poker again.  However, Sam quickly tired of playing and rose from her seat, walking over to Arsène, who was sitting alone, watching the group while enjoying a glass of cognac.

“Ah, 'ello, Sam!  What brinks you 'ere to me?”, he asked amiably, and the pyro sighed as she sat down.

“...I just wanted a break from playing cards.”, she said innocently, causing the spy to look at her sceptically.

“We both know dat eez a transparent excuse, ma chère... Tell me, leetle firebug, what eez really bozzerink you?”  He then noticed where she was looking and chuckled.  “Archie, non?”

“...I feel odd around him suddenly.  I mean, he's an incredible guy, and he is so kind to me.  But...  Arsène, what do you feel about Archie?”, the pyro suddenly asked, and the spy grew silent, scratching the stubble on his cheeks before lighting a cigarette, blowing out a puff of smoke with a pondering expression.  When he answered, his tone was serious and his voice low.

“I 'ave no special feelinks for Archie, if dat eez what you mean.  'Im and me, we share a bed sometimes, and a good friendship, but nuzzink more.  'E does not 'ave feelinks for me, I know.  ...You are good friends, non?”

“Yes.”, Sam said, taking a sip of her glass of vanilla liqueur, nearly spitting it out when the spy posed his next question.

“You are attracted to 'im physically, very strongly, non?”

“I-  Arsène, that's...  How could I...?”, she stammered, and Arsène chuckled.

“I can tell dat you are, leetle firebug.  You 'ave all zee signs of eet: your blush, zee way you play wiz your 'air, the fact you wink at 'im when 'e smiles at you...  Are you afraid to geeve een?”

“...No!”, Sam said after a second's hesitation, but she added with a blush: “He makes me feel things I've never felt before...”

“Are you still doubtink?”, the spy asked, and Sam sighed, shaking her head.

“...I just feel so vulnerable at the moment.  I feel like a little girl that got lost in the forest with all kinds of creepy creatures – no offense to you guys, but you're not exactly the most reassuring types.  ...I don't know.  You guys feel like wolves at times and he kind of feels like my ranger, my protector.  But I'm so afraid that when I look a little closer, he's just going to be another wolf.”

“You fear 'e is goink to 'urt you?”, the spy said, sounding surprised, and Sam nodded, looking at Archie – the scout noticed her look up and smiled her way, which she immediately answered with a smile of her own and a wave, causing him to knock over his glass of coke-and-rum.  She sniggered before looking back at Arsène, still smiling.

“I know he would never hurt me intentionally...  I'm just afraid we get together, and it'll be wonderful, and then after a week he grows bored of me and he moves back to you and whoever else.”

“Now dat makes eet sound like ‘e eez promiscuous… ‘e eez not.  Archie loves you.  Eet will only ‘urt zee both of you eef you do not admit eet.  Let go of your fears, leetle firebug.  ‘E eez not a wolf.”  Sam meant to reply when Archie walked over to the two of them.

“Hey, ya guys, I feel dead tired already – Imma head up to base again, anyone wanna come with?”

“Mmkay…”, Sam said, rising from her chair, putting down her empty glass of vanilla liqueur on the table.  “Arsène, behave!”, she added, winking, and the spy grinned at her, silently telling her not to.  Yet as the two arrived in their room, things became awkward again – as they had been ever since the previous weekend.  Archie sighed as he looked at Sam, sitting down on the side of her bed, and walked over to her.

“Listen, Sam… do ya still wanna do somethin’?  It’s still kinda early.  I was just bored of playin’ pool and listenin’ ta Billy’s constant stories.”  He then smiled at Sam.  “But you looked like ya were havin’ fun talkin’ to Arsaine… didya finally tell him how hot you think he is?”

“Don’t you wish it?”, the pyro said before stretching.  “…We could play something on that laptop of yours…”

“I ain’t got no two playah games.  But I could teach ya how ta play Army of Death 4 if ya want!”, the scout suggested, and Sam chuckled.

“Ah, why not?”  Archie grinned, setting up his laptop and starting the game.  “So, uh… where do I start?”

“I think it’s best ya do a training mission first… just ta get tha hang of things…  So ya have five classes, see here?”, Archie said as he leaned over Sam, pointing over her shoulder at the screen.  “See, this one’s a soldier, he's ya basic firearms guy, nothin' special…  The one with tha blindfold’s a Seer, he’s got psychic powers, ya know?  An’ that one’s my personal favorite – the one with tha hair like a lion’s mane?  He’s tha Plasmancer… he can manipulate Plasma, which is like cosmic energy…  That black thing there, like a shadow, is tha Oni – he can change in demons an’ shit.  Oh yeah, and the chick with the big fuckin’ gun’s tha Calamitator, she can cause earthquakes and comets fallin’ from the sky…”  Archie then grinned.  “Ta start with, your best choice is the Plasmancer or tha Calamitator – they both ain’t fast but they got crowd control tricks for when the zombies gang up on ya.”

“I’ll go with the Plasmancer, you probably know him best, you can teach me all the cool tricks…”, Sam said with a grin, and Archie proceeded to teach her the basics in the training level – by the time an hour had passed, she was already playing online against others.

“Oh, man, those green soldiers keep shooting me from afar…”, Sam groaned, and Archie chuckled.

“That’s because they don’t know everythin’ ya can do yet… watch an’ learn…”, he said as he leaned against her slightly, putting his hands over her own to show her a combination of keys that launched a fireball at the soldiers, incinerating them where they stood.

“Oh YEAH!”, Sam cheered before feeling, with a shock, how Archie leaned into her, how his hands were over her own…  He had never been that close to her before, and she could smell the rum he’d drunk that night in his breath along with the sugary sweetness of Bonk and the smell of sweat emanating from his shirt.  His hands didn’t move, nor did the rest of him, and Sam could feel her cheeks growing hot as she realized she didn’t want him to move.  “Archie?”, she asked – her attention shifting away from her game, not even noticing how she died, and the scout sighed, his breath tickling her ear as he shifted against her, so now he was sitting on his knees behind her.

“Sam…  I…”, he whispered, his cheek pressing against her hair, his thumbs gently running over her own in a hesitant way, making her feel elated.  She grasped his hands and then let them go, slowly turning around so she faced him, seeing how flushed he looked.  “…Fuck, I need ya so badly…”, he said, and Sam wavered for only a second before remembering Arsène’s advice.  She dropped out of the chair, ending up on her knees an inch away from him.

“Archie, I need you too…”  Next thing she knew, the scout pulled her into him roughly and kissed her.  He was raw and demanding, his tongue prying her lips apart with force, and she gave in, becoming hotter by the second.  One of his hands had found the bottom of her sleeveless shirt and he detached himself from her, pulling it over her head to uncover her bra.  Despite the hungry look in his eyes – or perhaps because of it – he chuckled when he saw it was light blue and floral-patterned.

“Is there anything ya own that’s not flowery?”, he whispered as he unclasped it, and she shrugged to allow him to remove it completely.

“…Mmmaybe my panties aren’t…”, she said deviously, taking off his T-shirt to reveal his lean upper body, running her hand across it to cause the scout to shiver and gasp.

“Ah… maybe I should find out…”, he murmured before dipping his head, capturing one of her nipples between his lips, causing her to shiver – one of her hands tangled itself in Archie’s hair, holding him firmly in place.  His hand found her other nipple, and Sam threw her head back with a soft gasp as his fingers and tongue were doing wonders.  She could feel how he grinned even as he softly circled her nipple with his tongue – and then he trailed kisses back up to her neck before ending up near her ear again.  “Sam, I wanna take you…”, he whispered, pulling her against him to testament just how badly he wanted to, and the pyro grinned.

“So impatient…”, she murmured before rising up from the ground again and taking off her skirt, revealing plain light blue panties.  However, Archie was past noticing it, and her panties mysteriously disappeared as he pushed her toward his bed, gently lowering her onto it before stripping himself and insinuating himself between her legs.

“…You’re so gorgeous, Sam, an’ so fuckin’ hot…”, the scout said, breathing heavy, and Sam grinned lazily, pulling him down onto her, wrapping her legs around the scout just as he thrust inside her, causing them both to gasp.  “Ohh Sam…”, Archie groaned as he let go of any inhibition he’d still had, moving in a furious rhythm, Sam matching each of his thrusts, answering each of his gasps and moans with one of her own.  Then, Archie took Sam’s hands and pinned them against the mattress with his own, pushing himself up slightly: Sam’s eyes opened and she looked at the scout in amazement as he grinned, hovering above her.  “Tell me you want me… tell me you need me…”

“A-archie… please…  I want you…  I n-need you…”, Sam said, arching her back as the scout pinned her hands above her head and moved inside her with demanding urgency.  Their gasps and moans became louder until Sam’s legs tightened around Archie and she all but screamed his name, her release triggering the scout who merely moaned her name as he thrust into her one last time before collapsing on top of her.  Both struggled to catch their breath before looking at the other with a smile.

“Holy shit, Sam, that was…”, the scout said, still panting slightly, causing the pyro to chuckle.

“Mmhmm, it was.  Archie, I…”, she started, but the scout placed his finger on her lips, placing his head on her chest.

“…Tell me ya love me in the mornin’, when we wake up, okay?  That way it’ll mean more when I tell you I love ya too.”  Sam chuckled and nodded softly.

“I can live with that… good night then, hot stuff…”

 

The next morning, Arsène was already sitting in the breakfast room in an exception to his rule to sleep in on Sunday.  He had thought to go wake up Archie, but decided against it as he’d seen the desperate looks the pyro and the scout had exchanged the previous night.  However, as he listened to Dell and Tavish talk about their card game of the previous night, he got bored.  ‘Where are dey?  Dey were not dat drunk last night, and zee pancakes are almost gone…’, the spy mused, looking at Dell picking up another pancake of the diminishing stack.  However, the door opened at that moment and Sam and Archie entered.  The way they were talking, looking thoroughly happy, told the spy that they had finally admitted to each other what they felt – and the way Archie touched Sam’s hand casually as the two of them sat down spoke more than their smiles and their cheer.

“And a good morning to you too, Arsène!”, Sam said, confiscating the remainder of the pancakes and lathering them with syrup before cutting them up.  “Mmmph, dmms ms dmmisssses!”, the pyro mumbled, mouth filled with pancake, and Arsène cringed.

“Sam, didn’t aneeone ever taught you zee manners?!”

“Mmyuuh…”, the pyro answered, swallowing the mouthful of pancake and syrup before grinning.  “But who needs manners when you’re surrounded by burly men that belch, scratch their groins at the breakfast table and drink scotch at this fine hour?”, she added, pointing at Tavish, and Arsène cringed again.

“Point taken.  Now, what are you two plannink to do today?”, he asked with a wink, and Sam rolled her eyes.

“Nothing special, you?”

“Eh…”, the spy stammered, taken aback by her reversal of the question.  He then blushed.  “…Also nuzzink special…”, he admitted, and the scout chuckled.

“Well, ya could join us – we’re goin’ to town, seein’ a movie and buyin’ some new CDs.  Other ‘n that, we were going to watch that one movie Dell wanted to see with him.”

“Ya serious?”, the engineer piped up next to Sam, and Archie nodded.

“Ya need someone ta watch that movie with you, so they can tell ya what happened after ya fell asleep…”, he said with a grin, ducking the shorter man’s swipe across the table before shaking his head.  “Nah, seriously, dude, we wanna watch that movie too.  ‘Legacy of the Giants’ is one’a my favorite fantasy movies, an’ I haven’t seen it in, like, forevah!”

“I like to watch it at least once a year to imprint it permanently in my brain…”, Sam added with a smile, and the engineer smiled back at her.

“Ah, okay, didn’t know you two wanted ta.  Ya can watch, but if y’all are goin’ to town to buy stuff, ya can bring me some popcorn an’ a few cold ones!”

“Will do!”, Sam said before turning to Arsène.  “So, want to join us?”

“What movie were you goink to watch in zee movie theatre?”

“It’s called ‘Corroded’, and it’s about some kid from the future that has the ability to rust metal with a touch…”, Sam said, explaining to the spy as they enjoyed their breakfast.


	12. Lovers past and present

Over the course of the next week, the team got some idea of what was going on between the scout and the pyro, as the two had become even closer both within battle and without.  More often than not, anyone threatening the pyro was quickly disabled by a stray baseball or the corresponding baseball bat applied to their head – the RED pyro had good reason to stay well away – and threatening the scout in turn led to many a fiery demise, either due to a healthy helping of burning gasoline or due to a flare lodged firmly in the body.  However, as close as they were, they were never overt about their obvious relationship, not displaying many signs of affection that they hadn’t displayed before.

“Arsène, d’you have any idea?”, Jane asked the spy as Sam and Archie sat playing their videogame in the evening, Sam laughing madly as Archie mowed down undead in a few clicks.  The spy shrugged.

“I can onlee guess, Jane… but I am guessink dey are togezzer now.”

“Ya mean, like, ‘tagetha’… tagetha, right?”, the Engineer whispered in passing, hovering near them as though unpacking his snacks at the table, and the spy nodded.

“Zee quotation marks can be left as dey are, Dell.  I am pretty certain dey have a… ‘ow to call eet?  A relation physique…”

“Da.”, came Yaroslav’s voice from their right, soft but clearly audible to the men around the table as the heavy weapons expert was polishing his minigun.  “They have room next to medic and me, and in the night, they make noise.  Lots of noise.  Siegfried wonder how they still have energy in day.”

“Well, uh, guess they’re young an’ all…”, Dell said, blushing, and the soldier looked over at the scout in confusion.

“Shouldn’t one of us have a talk with Arch?”

“I doubt he needs tha ‘birds an’ bees’ talk, Jane, he clearly knows enough ta git noise outta Sam.  But maybe Siegfried needs ta speak to tha two o’ them ‘bout birth control.”

“Sam’s on IUD”, Arsène said matter-of-factly, and now all men turned to him, causing the spy to throw up his hands.  “Archie was worried about ‘er and ‘e asked me to listen in on ‘er first medical exam on zee base, dat’s 'ow I know, bien?!”, he said, sounding embarrassed, and the engineer rolled his eyes.

“That eliminates some awkward conversations, don’t it?”  He rose, walking to the scout and the pyro, exchanging a few whispered words with the two of them, causing both to blush and the engineer to nod, smiling, before walking back to his chair.

“What’d you do?”, Jane asked, and Dell shrugged.

“Simplest solution.  Jus’ walked up ta them an’ asked them ‘are you two lovers?’, an’ they admitted it.  So yeah, they’re tagetha.”  As he spoke, the scout and pyro got up, looking at the men sitting at the table with bright blushes on their cheeks before picking up the laptop and moving away.  Arsène chuckled as he saw how the scout managed to keep an arm around Sam’s waist as well as one arm pinning his laptop securely against his side.

“I seenk we ‘ave embarrassed dem…”, the spy said, grinning, and the soldier laughed just as loudly as the engineer, while Yaroslav just shook his head.

“Is wrong to embarrass leetle scout and pyro…  Oh, if they have cheeldren, they will also be tiny…”

“At first they might, Yar, ‘cause they’d be babies…”, Dell said, and the heavy weapons expert grinned.

“Tiny scout babies and tiny pyro babies can be credit to team!”

“Aw, hell, Yaro, didn’t we just say they need to stop that from happening?”, Jane said, and the Russian opposite him merely chuckled, slapping the soldier on the shoulder with a grin.

“Was kidding!  Babies too tiny to fight…”  The men relaxed and, in the absence of Sam and Archie, turned to another subject – if only to divert Yaroslav from thinking about baby scouts and pyrotechnicians.

 

As awkward as the team dinners had been for Sam and Archie the remainder of the week, it became even more awkward on Saturday evening when the RED and BLU teams met up in the town.  Of course it had to be Chris that noticed first, his job evidently inspiring a great talent at observation, and the RED sniper spoke up loud enough for the entire group to hear:

“So, runty bugger, I see you’ve been gettin’ it from Sam… don’t dare let ‘er go, mate, she’s whatcha need…”

“Chris, man, what the fuck?!”, Archie shouted – for all it did, it could have been a confession, but then Sam spoke up, her voice easily carrying over the ensuing din.

“Look, you guys, I’m going to say this only once, so pay attention!”  When everyone turned to her, she pulled Archie into her and kissed him, long and heavy, and when they let go the silence was absolute, allowing her to speak up again, though softer this time.  “If anyone’s got a problem with that, or anything else it logically implies, you can suck it!”

“Hah, no one has a problem with it…”, the RED soldier said, grinning as he clapped them both on the shoulder, and then Billy put in his two cents.

“Sam, if ya ever tire of ole Archie, ya know where ta find me, won’tcha?”

“Billy, don’t mess with me!”, Archie said, though he grinned as he said it, and the RED scout shrugged before suggesting they sit down and eat, which they did.

“Sorry to put you in the center of attention…”, Sam said shyly as Archie reached across her plate to grab some spicy chicken wings, causing the scout to blush.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t mind much… ‘s long as I get a kiss whenevah ya do…”  Sam nodded in reply, taking some fries, making sure she leaned into Archie as she did, causing the scout to silently groan.  “Keep doin’ that and we’ll end up in some toilet stall…”, he whispered.

“Keep suggesting that we might and we certainly will…”, the pyro whispered back, and Archie grasped her thigh with his free hand, causing the pyro’s blush to deepen – and unfortunately drawing the attention of some of the others, who started guessing very accurately what was going through her mind.  “…Sorry, I shouldn’t tease you…”, she said to Archie as the laughter subsided, and the scout rolled his eyes.

“No, ya should act instead of speak.  Ya ain’t gettin’ no rest tonight now ya got me all riled up.  I have a case-a Bonk and I’m not afraid to use it!”, he added with a grin, and Sam nodded, smiling, knowing he just said that to rattle the others.

 

Arsène was the first one to notice the absence of Gabriel later that evening, and the spy alerted Sam and Archie to the fact – fearing the RED pyro might be spurred to desperate actions due to their relationship.  Archie reacted fiercely, as predicted, but Sam merely shrugged.

“Arsène, could you go to the compound and check what has happened to him?  I don't want him to overreact in any way.  Billy said he took the end of their relationship pretty hard, and I think I may have damaged his already precarious mind...”

“Should I check your room first?”, the spy asked, and Sam nodded.

“Yes, please.  I don't really want to find him swinging from my rafters or something like that...  And it'd also be a nuisance if he were waiting for us with his Axtinguisher, I really don't want to have to become an actual axe murderer...”  When Archie nodded, apparently still upset deep down over the incident that had led to their troubles, Arsène rolled his eyes.

“I'll go check.  What do you want me to tell 'im eef I find 'im?”

“Tell him to come here so we can drink one together.  Tell him that we can start from the beginning without embarrassing incidents on the way.  Oh, and add to that that Archie'll murder him if he so much as lays a finger on me in the wrong way.”

“Yeah, an' if you find that dickhead, tell him that he's welcome in my room again – in his own bed, though.”, Billy added in passing, having caught part of the conversation – the RED scout was smiling, and Arsène's irritation softened somewhat.

“I will tell 'im.”  The spy set off to the base, growing more doubtful the closer he got to Sam and Archie's room – however, the lights were on inside, and the spy took out his butterfly knife as a precaution.

“I can explain!  ...Oh, it's just you, Arsène...”  Gabriel had been standing over Archie's desk, a smattering of photos spread out on them, and when the pyro heaved a sob, Arsène noticed the tears that were dripping down his cheeks.

“Gabriel...  What ees zee matter?  Did Sam and Archie's relationship upset you dis much?”

“Je l'aime, comme ma amie spéciale, et je l'ai fait vraiment malheureuse... Je ne mérite pas son amitié, et encore moins son attention ... mais tout ce que je veux, c'est qu'elle soit heureuse ... alors comment puis-je leur faire malheureux en étant proche d'elle, quand je les rappele à la tristesse je les ai fait?”, the pyro spoke rapidly in French, and the spy switched to his mother tongue as well, patting the pyro on the back amically.

“Je pense vraiment que Sam t'a pardonnée... Archie est toujours en colère, mais Sam veut tout laisser derrière elle...  Vas à eux, excuse-toi pour ce que tu as fait, dis eux combien tu le regrette et comment ce qui s'est passé vous fait mal, et ils te pardonnent...  Billy va te pardonner aussi, j'en suis sûre...”

“V-vous pensez?  I mean, ya really think so?”, Gabriel stammered, and Arsène nodded.

“I really seenk so, yes...  I didn't know you were Canadien...”, the French spy admitted, causing Gabriel to chuckle as he wiped his tears from his eyes.

“There's a whole lot your team doesn't know about me, Arsène... and I think it's best if they don't know it all.   ...But you're entitled to know, and I'll tell Sam and Archie if they wanna let me back in their lives...  You deserve to know, ya've been kind.  ...Administrator saved my life.”

“'Ow so?”, the BLU spy asked, sitting down on Sam's bed, encouraging the pyro to speak, which he did, sitting on the ground cross-legged.

“She got me outta prison – I was convicted to twenty years for arson...  I am a committed pyromanic.  I am a sick, depressed control freak that looks for stress relief in fire-starting.  I mean, when those flames get goin', it's like all my worries and all my fears are fuel to the fire.  Fire consumes it.  Everything.  E-except...”

“Except 'ow bad you feel about 'urting Sam, non?”, Arsène said sagely, and Gabriel nodded.

“...Ya really think they'd forgive a sick fucker like me?”

“You'd be surprised, mon ami, at the power of the word 'I'm sorry' delivered with sincerity.  ...Go to dem now.”  He then looked at the photo's on Archie's desk, smiling.  “I know dese photos... dey are of Sam, non?”

“...I don't deserve these...”, the pyro said demurely, and Arsène smiled.

“I seenk you could earn dem back, though...  But 'ow did you keep pictures of Sam before 'er operation, when you slept with 'er only after?”

“...Archie'd better not screw it up with her...”, the pyro said, avoiding the question as he walked away, and the spy smiled as he answered to the closing door.

“'E'd rather die, je pense, mon ami...”


End file.
